


Downtown Train

by itsandrewbabe



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: F/F, F/M, Highkey gay, all the w/w in this fic are hopeless, and get themselves into angsty situations, but get themselves out of them, eventually, lowkey slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 08:51:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10636485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsandrewbabe/pseuds/itsandrewbabe
Summary: Emily Fields hates her job as a barmaid, but she hates having to catch the night train back home even more. That's until Alison Dilaurentis gets on at Ravenswood after finishing her shift and sits next to her.Or;Alison remembers Emily from high school, but Emily doesn't remember her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this on ff.net and decided to share it with ya'll on here! I hope you like it, let me know your thoughts in the comment section or on tumblr @bitteremison. :)

**Rosewood via Philadelphia Central - DELAYED.**

"Great," Emily mutters to herself, falling down onto the nearest bench, letting out the most frustrated huff she has to offer. _Every single time_ , she complains to herself. It's times like these that she kicks herself for turning down the opportunity to become a swim coach. It would be _'taking a huge step back'_ and _'the salary is too low_ ', she recalls saying. Now, she's working at a bar called 'Retros' and that is taking a _gigantic_ leap back. She was meant for greater things. Emily was training with some of the most renowned swimmers in the country and every day was another step closer to that dream. It was supposed to be an epic beginning, but all of that came to a sudden halt when her father suffered a fatal heart attack. Thankfully, he survived, but her coach forced an ultimatum upon her; Family or future. Of course, she chose her father and went home and she would still choose him in a heartbeat. A whole year has gone by since then.

Now?

Emily Fields is twenty-one years old, working at a 90's themed bar. _It could be worse_ , she reminds herself, though, it could be _better_. So, here she stands, alone on a platform, waiting for her train to arrive which is already forty minutes late. Her internal rants get interrupted when she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket.

She answers. "Hello?"

"Oh my God, Em. I swear, it's easier to get in touch with Obama. Where are you?" Right on cue. It's her roommate Hanna; she phones every night when it's gone two, to find out where she is.

"I'm still in Philly. The train's delayed."

"Again?"

"Mhm." Emily hears her friend sigh.

"Isn't that like- the third time this week?" Hanna points out, her voice rising with every word.

"Yep. I might just start walking back."

"It's like ten miles, Em. Don't even think about it. You need a car." Hanna suggests, causing Emily to scoff loudly.

"I have to hold my bed up with books, what makes you think that I can afford a car?" Emily casts her memory back that day. She went to bed one night and the next morning, she was awoken when her bed suddenly caved in. Those books have been holding her up while she sleeps for eight months.

"You make your point. Want me to come get you?" Just as Emily's about to say yes, she spots the lights of the train approach the platform.

"Don't worry about it, it just got here. See you soon?"

"Yeah, I'll order a pizza."

Emily hangs up and waits for the train to stop. When it does, she gets on. It's a single carriage and it's jam packed with only two seats to spare. Her choice's; Sit in the front with some shady looking people who tend to stare a lot or attempt to steal your purse (it's happened twice), or sit in the back with drunk people and risk having to socialize with them. She takes a deep breath as she tries to figure out which is the better of two evils tonight. Her decision is made when someone in the front watches her with an unsettling stare. _And we have a winner, back it is_. She avoids eye contact with the drunk passengers as she approaches the back and sits in her seat quietly. She's about to place her headphones in her ears when she feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns around, dreading that it's a drunk person trying to hit on her and unfortunately, it is.

"Hey." He greets with a grin, swaying uncontrollably. Clearly, he's had a night of it. She rolls her eyes, deciding not to respond and turns to face the window in hope that he will take the hint.

"Hey." He says again, slightly louder. Is this guy serious? After a couple more attempts, Emily finally turns back to face him and is overcome with an unpleasant scent of cigarettes and whiskey. It's so strong, that she has to take a second before she yells at him.

"I'm not interested." She snaps. The man jumps slightly at the unexpected outburst, raises his hands in surrender and walks away. This is a common occurrence on the train at this time of night and it's what Emily hates most about it; Sleazy older men, hitting on young women who are half their age, couples practically going at it with no shame and groups of friends laughing at every damn thing that is said. The carriage is filled with loud laughter and chatter and she attempts to once again put her headphones in her ears to block out the horrendous racket, she gets enough of this at work. She's successful this time 'round with no interruption. She hits play, stares out the window and enjoys the music.

The train stops at Ravenswood and thankfully, a majority of them get off. _Peace at last_. That's until the conductor makes an announcement.

"Okay folks, we will be stopping here for five minutes. We apologize for the delay." Groans echo through the train and Emily leans back, hitting her head back onto the headrest with deliberate force. It get's even worse when that majority is replaced with more people getting on. Another drunk group stumbles their way past Emily and a couple of people who look like they've just finished work sit in the front. One girl, however, catches her attention; Her hair is blonde, she's wearing what looks like a diner uniform and she's sporting a huge coffee stain on her shirt. But that's not what got her attention, it's the extremely pissed off look on her face. The energy coming off of her is intense with anger and Emily can feel it, from twelve seats away. It makes her feel uneasy.

The girl is standing at the front, scanning the carriage with her eyes for a place to sit. She eyes every single person on the train, analyzing them and Emily's mind is screaming, praying that the blonde's eyes don't land on her. Sadly the universe hates her and the blonde looks right at her. It startles Emily and she turns her gaze to the window again, but something urges her to look back and when she does, the pissed off girl is staring right at her, as if she's sussing her out. Her mind begins to jump to wild conclusions; _Is there something on my face? Did I do something annoy her? Oh no, oh God, she's walking over to me._

The young woman approaches her, with her arms crossed and Emily tries to avert her gaze, but fails miserably. Emily fears that this girls stare could set her on fire; it's very pointed, though there's a hint of familiarity in it? She's unsure. As she get's closer, Emily finds herself admiring this stranger's piercing blue eyes. But that's the last thing that she should be doing, especially if this is about to get ugly. Emily gulps and slowly removes her headphones, briefly looking down to brace herself. When she dares to look up, the girl is standing in front of her.

"Is this seat taken?" She asks, in a surprisingly timid voice. Emily feels relief sweep through her body and she simply shakes her head, moving her bag to her feet for her to sit. After a beat, Emily puts her headphones back in. Every now and then, she finds herself looking at the blonde woman beside her. The first time she does, the girl is on her phone. The second time, she's reading a book 'The Catcher In The Rye'. The third time, it's when the woman's phone rings and she answers.

"Hey. Yeah, I'm on the train- Some asshat spilled coffee all over me, I swear to God that I'm going to quit-"

Emily finds herself turning down her music to eavesdrop and listens to her conversation discreetly. The girl's voice is snappy, laced with what sounds like a waver as if she's going to cry. She looks at her again, for the fourth time. This time though, she notices a badge on her top. It says 'Alison'.

"You're right- I know. Yeah, see you soon." 'Alison' hangs up and it's only then, that Emily realizes that she's been staring at her badge for longer than intended. She quickly checks her phone, pretending not to be weird, but sadly it doesn't work because she feels Alison watching her. When it seems like she's about to say something, Hanna calls Emily again and she couldn't be more grateful to her friend and her overprotective nature. She quickly answers.

"Hey Han, I'm nearly home." Her voice goes on a roller-coaster of pitches (kind of like when you're talking and go over a speed bump) and in that moment, she wishes the floor would just swallow her up because she's pretty certain that this is the most embarrassing moment in her entire adult life.

"Thank God, because we've run out of toilet paper."

"And let me guess, you're on the toilet right now, only just realizing this?" Her voice is back to normal. _Why couldn't this have happened when I answered the phone?_

"Kylie did say that it's the year of realizing things, Em," Hanna says matter-of-factly. Emily groans in annoyance at the reference before replying. Even more so that she used it on such a mild situation.

"I'll pick some up on the way home. See you soon-"

"Wait, Em!" Sigh.

"What, Hanna?"

"Could you bring back some Cheetos too?"

"Goodbye Hanna."

"Wait-"

Emily hangs up before her roommate can continue with her shopping list and laughs to herself. She moved into Hanna's apartment when her friend Lucas moved out to go live in New York just over a year ago and it's been an interesting experience. She's learned that Hanna's actually the messiest person on the planet; She has a collection of mugs in her bedroom and hasn't done the dishes in five weeks (she's been counting). She also stays up until three in the morning most nights and binge watches shows on Netflix (her record to date is binge watching the entirety of Breaking Bad in four days). She always waits up for Emily (even if it's gone four in the morning) and has dinner with her. She's also learned that Hanna hates being on her own in the apartment because she's convinced that it's haunted. It's probably part of the reason that she waits up...

"Did you go to Rosewood High?" The girl beside her questions, snapping Emily out of her thoughts. She looks at her before answering.

"Yes.." She replies, cautiously. The blonde girl or 'Alison' smirks smugly.

"So, you were listening." She points out. Emily swears that her heart stops for at least five seconds when she realizes that she's been caught out. She's still wearing the headphones and she stopped listening to music at least twenty minutes ago. She tries to think of a way to respond in defense.

"To my music?" _Ugh_. She kicks herself internally, but to her surprise, 'Alison' starts laughing.

"O..kay." The blonde replies. Emily feels the blood rush to her cheeks and waits patiently for the floor to do its thing.

"Emily, right?" Alison asks. Emily is unsure if this is a trap or her genuinely trying to be nice. She just nods, not risking embarrassing herself again.

"We were in the same English class. I'm Alison." So her name is Alison, cool. Emily stares back blankly, not remembering. She swears that she sees a flash of disappointment in the girl's eyes.

"You don't remember." Emily thinks of everyone she ever went to school with but comes up empty. _How the hell don't I remember her? I would never forget someone like her._

"I'm sorry. I have a really bad memory, I sometimes forget people that I dated back then." _Wow, good one Em. Ten out of ten, she must think that you're a self-absorbed ass._ She forgets sometimes that she once had a boyfriend (we all have regrets). His name was.. Something beginning with B? To her surprise, Alison finds it amusing.

"It's okay." Again goes the flash of disappointment in her eyes. _What the hell is wrong with me, why can't I remember this girl?_

"The next stop is Rosewood." The conductor says over the tannoy.

"This is my stop," Alison tells her, getting up.

"Me too." Emily grabs her bag and stands. They both look at each other for a moment in a silence, unsure of how to end this awkward conversation.

"Bye, Emily." Alison finally says, before walking away, leaving a puzzled Emily.

"Bye."

Alison..

* * *

 

SLAM

Emily throws her keys onto the kitchen counter and empties her bag of groceries. Hanna phoned her twice since she left the train station with more requests; a slushie, chocolate fudge pop tarts, and an avocado.

"Emily!" Hanna yells from the bathroom. Emily shakes her head and removes the packaging of the toilet paper, removing one roll for her roommate who has been trapped on that toilet for almost an hour. She walks over to the bathroom door and opens it just enough to pop her hand through. Hanna grabs the paper and groans dramatically.

"My hero." After a couple of minutes, Hanna finally leaves the bathroom, walking over to the couch that Emily is sat on and falls onto it with a blissful sigh.

"How was work?" Emily rubs her temples.

"They played Wonderwall three times and there was a Spice Girl themed bachelorette party. Scary Spice made me dance." Emily reveals, with her face falling into the palm of her hands. Hanna cackles.

"Oh my God, that's amazing." Her friend says through her laughter. Emily throws a cushion at her.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"It was horrible," Emily complains.

"How was your day?" She adds.

"Gillian made me separate two hundred clothes hangers today." Hanna works as an intern for fashion designer Gillian King. What she thought would be a fun, learning experience and a step up the ladder towards her future has been separating hangers, going on coffee runs and babysitting her children. This is the most action she's had in the fashion department in months and that's saying something.

"It took me three hours Em, three!"

"I'm sorry, Han. She sounds-"

"And! She yelled at Angus in front of everyone for putting too much cream in her coffee. He cried. She's just so mean." Emily feels for her (and Angus), what was meant to be a great opportunity has turned Hanna's dream into her worst nightmare. Hanna takes a breather before she continues.

"I hate it. I don't know if I want to do this anymore, the fashion industry is filled with toxic people."

"Hey, something better will come along someday. I know it." And Emily does. Her roommate is very talented. She's designed Aria's mom's wedding dress and it was jaw dropping, incredibly stunning. Hanna changes the subject.

"Let's eat, I'm starving." Emily gives her a nod, understanding that she doesn't want to discuss it any further.

"Did you order pizza?"

"Yeah, it's on the counter." They both walk over to the kitchen, Emily sits on the counter and Hanna picks up the pizza, opening the box. Ham and pineapple, _she knows me so well_. They both grab a slice and dig in. A thought crosses the brunette's mind.

"Do you remember anyone from high school?" She asks. Hanna raises a brow as if to say 'elaborate'.

"When I was on the train, this girl sat next to me and told me that she knew me from Rosewood High. Apparently, we were in the same English class or whatever.." She explains, playing it off like it's not that big of a deal (it is).

"What's her name?" Hanna responds.

"Alison.." Her friend's eyes go wide and she pulls her 'intrigued gossip hungry' face.

"Dilaurentis?" Hanna finishes. Emily shrugs.

"Tell me everything."

"There's not really much to tell. She said she that we were in the same English class, I don't remember her." Emily says honestly. Hanna's expression goes from intrigued to what a kid would look like if Christmas was canceled.

"You're no fun. Also, how do you not remember Alison Dilaurentis? She was like- Queen bee." Hanna speaks like it's rude not to know her, or of her.

"I was more focused on swimming than school royalties, Han." Her friend gasps, offended.

"Alison Dilaurentis was badass with a capital B." _Here we go,_ Emily thinks.

"I heard that one time, she broke into Principal Hackett's office and t-p'd it because he confiscated her booze and stole it back." _That's not badass, that's just rude and childish._

"And, she slept with Noel Kahn." _What's the big deal with this guy?_

"She skipped school and went to Vegas with her sister Charlotte for three days." _Okay, that's kind of badass but her parents must have been worried sick. Not cool._

"You sound like you're reciting a scene from Mean Girls." Hanna sticks her tongue out and pulls a funny face.

"I bumped into her at the Brew last year and she didn't recognize me. We were freaking lab partners. If she remembers you, you must have made some sort of impact." Hanna takes a bite of her pizza, waggling her eyebrows at Emily as if she's suggesting something.

"I've never had a conversation with her until today, what impact could I have had?" She was, what most people in her grade would say, the 'quiet one'. She wasn't shy, but she kept to herself. She thinks that Hanna's reaching, far.

"Maybe you pissed her off. Or maybe she had a thing for you. Who knows?" _The first one, definitely the first one_.

"I think she hates me." Hanna tuts and grabs another slice.

"Netflix?" Emily suggests, wanting to close the door on this conversation.

"Can we watch Mean Girls?"

`Emily hates her job, so damn much, but today she's kind of looking forward to her shift. She feels giddy and deep down, she knows why. It's because of Alison Dilaurentis. She wants to know why the blonde remembers her, more than she's willing to admit. Emily just doesn't get how she doesn't remember her and it's infuriating when she tries to. It's like when you forget an actors name and it stays at the back of your mind until you remember it. _English class, Mr. Fitz, I sat in the front and-_

"Fields, where's that gin and tonic?!" Her boss rudely interrupts, though to be fair, she's daydreaming in the middle of happy hour and there are a dozen customers waiting to be served. He's filling a pint glass with beer, throwing Emily one hell on an unimpressed glare. She get's to work and helps get the cue down.

Once it's pretty much settled down, she finds herself analyzing every single English lesson that she's ever attended in her life, determined to remember.

_Why is it so hard?_

* * *

 

**Rosewood via Philadelphia Central - DELAYED.**

_Of course, it's delayed for the fourth time this week, how wonderful_. She counts down the seconds to when Hanna inevitably phones her, worried out of her mind. _Three, two, one._

RING RING.

She answers. "Hey Han."

"Don't tell me snail mobile's delayed again?" Hanna already knows the answer and sighs.

"I'm making pasta, want some?" She adds.

"I'm okay thanks, I had McDonald's." She hears Hanna 'ah' followed by the sound of pots clanging.

"Lucas called," Hanna reveals.

"Oh, how's he doing?"

"I don't know, he left me a voicemail. He said it was urgent, but when I called. It went to voicemail. What's the point in having a phone if you're not going to answer it?" Hanna complains.

"What do you think it is?" Emily wonders.

"I don't know, but I hope it's nothing bad, I can't take any more bad news this year, it's depressing."

"Yeah, this year hasn't been very kind to us."

"2016 is a fucking bitch," Hanna mutters. _It is, it really is._ Emily stands when she sees her train approach, her eyebrows raise when she sees that it has two carriages. (Yes, this is a big moment).

"It is. The train's here, see you in a bit."

"See you soon!"

For the first twenty minutes of her journey, she goes through the same process she does every day (apparently, two carriages doesn't make things any better); choose a spot to sit (she chose the front today) and get hit on or creeped out (man opposite her started yelling at her 101 different reasons why he hates his job). When the train finally stops at Ravenswood, Emily's disappointing when the man opposite her doesn't move. She bites the inside of her lip, refraining herself from simply telling him to fuck off and looks at the door as people get on. She thanks whoever's up there when the man plugs his headphones in and listens to music. She begins to lose hope after eleven/twelve people get on, but then the door from the next carriage to her one opens and there she is. She doesn't have scary vibes bouncing off of her tonight, she seems to be in a good mood, which is nice.

Alison walks down the aisle, sussing out the crowd as she did the night before and once again, her eyes land on Emily. Though she's in a better mood, the stare is still intense. Emily can't describe the feeling that goes through her body when Alison smiles and walks over to her. It's a tingly feeling all over and a rush of adrenaline. It makes her shudder and then, she smiles back.

"Is this seat taken?" Emily shakes her head, as she did before and moves her bag. Alison sits. For the next few minutes, they don't speak. Alison reads and Emily listens to her music, occasionally glancing at one another. She's still reading The Catcher In The Rye.

"It's a good book." Emily's eyes snap shut in instant regret. _What am I doing?_ She expects Alison to ignore her. She doesn't. Instead, she closes her book and looks at her, to continue. Emily suddenly doesn't know words.

"My friend Aria loves it." _What are you saying? She doesn't know who Aria is, why would you bring her into this?_

"Aria Montgomery?" Alison wonders. She knows Aria? She gives a small nod, deciding that speaking should be kept to a minimum before she makes things worse.

"You know her?" _Damn it._

"Mhm, she was my roommate at Hollis." _Wow, small world._

"We're friends." Emily doesn't know what's more shocking, the fact that she's managed to say the same thing twice or the fact that Alison hasn't gotten up and left yet. Alison doesn't point it out, thankfully and she smirks.

"I kind of stole this from Rosewood High, when we did a paper on it." Alison says, changing the subject. This makes Emily chuckle lightly. It's actually kind of endearing that she liked the book so much, she kept it.

"I remember that. I got a D-minus. I think that Fitz hated me."

"I got a B." Alison boasts, grinning proudly. _She has dimples. They're cute_.

"He hated me too. But I was hardly there, so I can see where he's coming from." She adds. _She skipped class a lot, that explains it_.

"Isn't it weird that Aria and Fitz are a couple now?" Emily points out. Alison's jaw drops and she gasps, completely not expecting it.

"You're kidding? Aria and Mr. _Fitz_? No way."

"Oh, trust me, it's a thing." For the next thirty seconds, Alison tries to wrap her head around this piece of news, whispering 'no way' every now and then while letting out a small giggle.

"English was my favorite class, it was the only one I made the effort to go to," Alison reveals. Emily can see how she lights up when talking about English, but then her expression turns sad, almost regretful. Emily knows that look all too well, she has that look on her face whenever she thinks about her swimming career. Perhaps Alison wanted a career in English, but life dealt her a crap deck of cards like it did for herself.

"Did you study English at college?" Emily questions.

"Mhm, English lit. I wanted to be a teacher. Kind of funny how the kid who skipped class wanted to teach, isn't it?" Alison looks down like she's kicking herself. Emily can't help but notice that she's speaking in the past tense; she's completely given up all hope.

"I think it's nice." She encourages, offering Alison a sweet smile. The blonde looks up and that spark Emily saw a moment ago returns. After a beat, Alison speaks up again.

"How about you?" Emily gives the girl a puzzled look.

"What did you study?" Emily catches on and replies.

"Sports science." Alison 'ah's', with a look of realization painted on her face.

"You were on the swim team." She points out. Emily's kind of impressed that she remembers that. But mainly confused as to why.

"Yeah, I was training to join California's swim team." She recalls.

"What happened?" Emily shrugs, breathing in slowly.

"Life did." They share a look of understanding; they've both been there.

"Next stop, Rosewood." The conductor announces, putting a pause to this oddly deep conversation. Emily heads towards the door and Alison joins her. When the train stops, they both step onto the platform.

"See you tomorrow?" Alison wonders, looking hopeful. She thinks. Emily isn't too sure, but a part of her hopes so.

"See you tomorrow." She responds, giving the blonde a small smile. Alison waves, turning around and leaving. Emily watches as she walks away and it's then that she decides that maybe, trains aren't so bad after all.


	2. I'm shining like a new dime

Usually, Emily enjoys having days off, but for some reason, today isn't the case; time's going by too slowly and she's eager for the day to end, so that tomorrow can begin. It's that giddy feeling you get before you go on holiday, that impatience. She has nothing planned for tomorrow, except for work and when there's work, there's the train and when there's the train, there's _Alison_.

It's been a whole week since their first meeting and Alison continues to sit next to her. Emily has learned that they share more in common than she had originally thought; they love Paris (they both have mini Eiffel towers in their apartments). Their favorite color is blue, they both enjoy surfing and their guilty pleasure song is 'Every Breath You Take' (this was discovered when Emily unplugged her headphones accidentally and it continued to play). The only thing that they seem to disagree on is dogs. Alison is a dog person whereas Emily is a cat person - they had a heated debate on the subject and they concluded that it would be best for neither of them to _ever_ bring up the topic again, _even though cats are better_. She finds herself _wanting_ to go to work, just so that she can see Alison, whether it's to talk or even to just sit there in silence; she want's to be around her, at any given moment.

Emily feels kind of silly for not just simply asking Alison for her number, but she can't seem to bring herself to do it - she just stumbles over her words and ends up talking about something completely unrelated; last night, she started talking about seals. Why? She has no idea, it just happened. Every night is the same, they both linger and watch each other for at least ten seconds before saying goodbye and every single time, Emily leaves without a phone number. She wonders if Alison feels the same-

BANG.

"Emily, come on!" She hears Hanna yell from the other side of her bedroom door, bashing on it so hard that she swears her fist will punch through the wood any second now. Emily checks the time on her phone and is disappointed to see that it's only twelve in the afternoon. She groans pathetically and rolls out of bed to answer the door, swinging it open.

"Seriously, Han?" Emily scolds. Hanna's eyes drift down and lock when she sees that Emily is in her pajamas; her expression becomes tense - lips taut and eyes unblinking.

"Well, you're screwed." Hanna says matter-of-factly. _What, why_? Emily's eyebrows furrow; a line forms in the middle of her forehead as she tries to figure out what Hanna is going on about. Her roommate clears her throat and taps her foot impatiently as she waits for a response - wanting to give Emily the chance to remember herself. When she doesn't speak up, Hanna gives up and speaks.

"Oh my God, Em, we're supposed to be meeting Spencer and Aria at The Brew in an hour!" _Fuck._ Emily's furrowed expression quickly morphs into one of panic. _Hanna's right - she's screwed._

"That's today?" Emily questions. She's hit with a sudden rush of adrenaline and wastes no time; running around her bedroom, scavenging for clean clothes on her floor by smelling them while simultaneously stripping out of her pajamas. She momentarily forgets that Hanna is still standing in her doorway.

"When do we have to leave?" Emily shouts, with her voice staggering slightly due to the million things that she's attempting to do at once - including her make up, her hair and also searching for clean underwear (she hasn't had the chance to wash her clothes this week).

"Ten minutes ago." Hanna says, cringing as she watches the words sink in on her friends face; it makes Emily whine tragically.

"She'll kill us, even if we're only a minute late." Hanna unnecessarily reminds her.

"I'm aware, Han." After what feels like ten minutes (it's actually about thirty seconds), Emily finally finds a clean pair of boxer briefs and shamelessly strips out of her current ones in front of her roommate and replaces them - Hanna isn't fazed. She grabs a pair of skinny jeans and shuffles into them, while checking out her reflection in the mirror. She pouts and runs her fingers through her hair, accepting the fact that this is as good as it's going to get. Hanna claps and Emily turns to face her - she's nodding her head towards the front door with a scolding look in her eye that says 'beat it or I will kick your ass' (sidenote: it's scary to be on the receiving end of said look).

"Let's go." Hanna orders - it's not often that she get's like this, but Emily honestly can't blame her - you do not want to leave Spencer hanging, especially on a day like this. Emily grabs her bag and Hanna wastes no time, she's out of the apartment in a flash and Emily struggles to keep up.

* * *

The pair (some how) manage to arrive at The Brew ten minutes early - luckily, traffic wasn't so bad. As expected, Spencer is already there; she's sat on a sofa with a half empty cup of coffee and a huge binder labelled 'Wedding'. Her face is filled with concentration and Emily swears that if eyes had a voice - Spencer's would be screaming. She's flipping back and forth between pages in her binder, taking notes and is rubbing her temples. Emily and Hanna exchange a look with consists of - lots of blinking followed by a gulp and a deep breath, bracing themselves. When Spencer finally looks away from her notes for just a second, she sees her friends and relief washes over her. She waves them over, checking the time on her watch.

"Wow, nine minutes early. I'm impressed." Spencer observes, downing her coffee until it's just a quarter full. _This can't be good._

"I have no idea where Aria is though." She frets, bouncing her left knee - Emily and Hanna exchange the same look again and Emily cautiously sits next to her, trying to avoid sitting on any of her notes; _that's a death wish_.

"Yeah, no more coffee for you." Emily decides, removing the cup from Spencer's hand and placing it on the coffee table. Spencer pouts then whines, trying to take it back but Hanna stops her.

"How are you doing? You okay?" Emily asks, with her voice sympathetic and laced with concern - it makes Spencer snap.

"No Emily, I'm not okay. I need a new band because Red Coat flaked out, I have to meet with the caterers and- There's just so much to do and every time me and Toby try to discuss it, he gets called into work." Hanna places a hand on Spencer's knee to stop it from bouncing.

"Hey, it's okay. We have three months, we'll fix this." Hanna reassures her, trying to console her.

"I know- but time seems to go by a lot faster when you're getting married." She laughs.

"I just want it to be perfect." Spencer adds, running a hand through her hair.

"And it will be." Emily says with absolute certainty. Perfect is second nature to them. Emily recalls the moment that Toby and Spencer met and the other stuff that came after it; Spencer tutoring Toby french, Toby making Spencer a chair, Spencer buying Toby a truck, Toby making Spencer a house and Spencer proposing to him in french at that house. They're big on their romantic gestures and it's admirable - she looks up to them. She was so thrilled for them and relieved to find out that they'd finally be tying the knot, especially since they've basically been a married couple for years. She hears Spencer let out a heavy sigh of relief when Aria enters the cafe. She approaches them timidly.

"Hey, sorry I'm late-" Aria begins (she's ten seconds late).

"Traffic was a mess." Emily watches Spencer roll her eyes at Aria's blatant, poor attempt of a lie, but doesn't call it out - she's obviously more concerned about bigger things right now, like her wedding.

"How's Ezra?" Hanna asks in a teasing manner. This won't end well.

"He's good, we actually-"

"Yeah, that's nice, but we have to go." Spencer interrupts, without any remorse, grabbing her things and getting up. Aria's caught off guard by her rudeness but then she shrugs it off; understanding that Spencer's under a lot of stress. Emily notices Hanna discretely laughing at the exchange, finding it all hilarious. Emily tuts and nudges her with her shoulder to stop.

"All righty then." Aria mutters, standing up. They exit The Brew and the three girls have looks of confusion painted on their faces when they notice Spencer's car parked across the road.

"Where is this bridal shop, exactly?" Aria asks.

"Ravenswood." Spencer answers. Emily's body comes to a halt and her heart skips like crazy. _Well, that was unnecessary,_ she scolds herself internally. Hanna gives her a knowing look and Emily just wants today to be over already.

* * *

Three dresses, one bottle of champagne and seven songs about weddings blasting through the speakers later and Spencer is still undecided. The first dress was simply just a travesty (it was a Frozen themed wedding dress, they didn't know this information until after she put it on), the second one was nice but kind of tacky and the third one.. This one.. Well-

"Well, what do you think?" Spencer asks, twirling once again for the girls who are sipping awkwardly on their champagne. It's a lovely dress, but it doesn't look right - Emily can't quite put her finger on it. It's a long silky dress that hugs her figure, there's loosely draped lacy fabric that begins at the base of her neck to the top, with a collar. Honestly? The dress _isn't_ 'Spencer', though, she isn't really too sure what is. The dress is beautiful and it looks incredible on her, but she doesn't look incredible in it; it fits like a glove, but not quite. There's something missing. Still though, she gasps in awe at her friend and cheers her on.

"Breath taking." Aria lies, taking a sip of her drink.

"I love the- collar." Hanna attempts. Spencer looks into the mirror with a grim expression.

"I hate it." Spencer reveals. The three girls let out a quiet breath that they've been holding, secretly glad.

"I hate them all." Spencer whines, not realizing that Mrs Grunwald, aka the owner of the shop is standing in the door way with more dresses and one hell of an unimpressed look on her face - it's unsettling.

"I'm sorry to hear that dear. I hope that one of these will live up to your expectations." Mrs Grunwald bitterly speaks. The woman hangs up the dresses on a rail and exits the room. After an awkward beat, Spencer goes through them - her face is lost of all hope and Emily opens up Google on her phone, searching for other bridal stores in the area - she doesn't want her friend to have to go home today without a dress. She stops her search when she hears Spencer 'ooh'. The bride to be takes a dress from the rail, studying it and then speaks.

"I'll be right back." After a minute, when the coast is clear, Aria talks in a hushed voice.

"What do you think you guys? If we don't find anything here, we could take her to Philly?" She suggests.

"I just checked online, there's another bridal store about ten minutes away." Emily informs them.

"Okay, cool. We'll check it-" Hanna begins, but her sentence is cut short when Spencer emerges from the dressing room leaving her lost for words.

This time, the awe-struck expressions and the gasps are very real. This dress hugs her figure like the last one did, but this one is a tulle wedding dress; it's a strapless gown with a crystal beaded belt that emphasizes her waist - it has a back corset and chapel length train. - _Timeless_. That's the component that the other dresses were missing and it brings tears to Emily's eyes.

"Well?" Spencer chokes out, welling up as she takes in her friends reactions.

"Breathtaking." Aria repeats, though this time, thick with emotion.

"It's so- stunning, so-" Hanna starts, stuck for words.

"You." Emily finishes. Mrs Grunwald enters the room and her whole demeanor changes; there's a glint on admiration in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"I think that you found the one, Miss Hastings."

* * *

After the dress hunt, the girls explore Ravenswood for some food - Emily's surprised that Spencer can still afford anything after paying for that dress - that kind of money could cover three months rent in the city.

"You know some good places around here, right Em?" Hanna asks, teasing her friend. _Why does she always-_

"Hanna" Emily scolds, causing Spencer to look between them suspiciously.

"Elaborate." She tells them, intrigued. Emily sighs with irritation and looks up to the sky.

"It's nothing, Hanna's just being an ass." Emily responds, causing Hanna to gasp in protest.

"Rude." Hanna comments. Spencer just tuts and checks her phone for local restaurants.

"Shakey Shack. It has five star reviews and it's a three minute walk from here." Spencer reads out loud. Emily screams internally because Alison works there and apparently the universe is not on her side today (or ever, for that matter). Hanna starts to laugh loudly.

"What?" Spencer wonders, looking between them again.

"Emily's crush works there." Hanna reveals. This attracts Aria's and Spencer's attention and Emily blushes profusely.

"Does that crush happen to be Alison Dilaurentis?" Aria questions. Emily chokes on air, low-key wishing that she ceased to exist right now. Hanna's jaw drops.

"How did you know that?" Hanna asks. Aria shrugs, like it's no big deal.

"She's the only person our age that works there." Aria points out.

"How do you know this information?" Hanna demands - more hungry for this gossip than lunch.

"We're friends." Aria reveals - Hanna's caught off guard and takes a beat to process this information.

"Wait, what? Since when?" Emily groans and looks to the sky again; she begins to pace. _Why me?_ She wonders.

"Since College. We _did_ live together for three years." Aria responds matter-of-factly. First, Hanna's expression is puzzled - but then it morphs into a look of realization and her eyes light up.

"You know what this means." Hanna begins.

"Oh no." Spencer breaths out while rubbing her temples - she knows what's about to come and Emily can relate.

"Destiny," Hanna says simply. Emily mutters ' _fuck_ ' under her breath before speaking.

"Hanna, it's not that deep. It's a small world around here, I bump into Holden at least three times a week. He's Aria's friend and he lives in _Welby_. Is that destiny?" She tries to reason. Hanna shrugs simply and Emily gives her a ' _you're so dead'_   look while shaking her head - she doesn't like where this is going.

"Everything happens for a reason, the universe has a plan for everyone." She explains proudly, swaying happily.

"That's so not true. Life is what you make it - period." Spencer argues.

"I can see where Hanna's coming from, though. Sometimes the universe needs to give you a little push- A sign." Aria reasons, half agreeing with her friend.

"Exactly, thank you. I mean, what are the odds that Emily and Alison- who were in the same class- who are both friends with you- who lived in Rosewood their whole lives haven't met until now?

"Very probable, Hanna. I didn't meet one of my neighbors of three years until a week ago. It happens." Spencer says. Hanna doesn't seem bothered by Spencer's reaction.

"Whatever, I stand by opinion," Hanna states, raising her hands.

"Can we change the subject, please?" Emily begs - _this is mortifying._

"Sure, but can we actually go to Shakey Shack? I haven't seen Ali in months." Aria asks in a cute voice. Emily groans.

"Come on, Em." _Aria knows me too well._

"Fine."

* * *

As they get closer and closer to Shakey Shack, a million thoughts run through Emily's panicked mind; _Do I look like shit? What if Alison thinks I'm creepy? What if she doesn't speak to me? Oh God, what if I-_

"Jeez Em, I can hear your internal screaming from all the way over here." Aria points out, making Emily's face scrunch up, embarrassed. Thankfully, the other two aren't there to see it - they're far ahead.

"So.. You have a thing for Ali, huh?" She points out carefully - Emily's thankful that she's not being an ass about it. She nods in response.

"She's sweet- Well, now she is... She wasn't exactly the nicest person in school." Aria reveals, shocking Emily. _Alison's one of the kindest people that she's ever met._

"Really?" She wonders. Aria exhales, with an unreadable expression; her lips are pouted - as if she's annoyed, but her eyes are conflicted.

"Yeah, she was kind of- super mean. She's grown up a lot since then, though." Aria defends.

"If you do decide to ask her out, just... Be careful. Okay?" Aria warns her. _Why do I have to be careful?_

"Why?" Aria stops, waiting for the other two to be far enough away before continuing.

"She's been through some rough times... But that's her story to tell, not mine. Just don't get involved if you're not prepared to hear it." She reveals, quietly. Emily bites the inside of her cheek; curious, intrigued, frustrated and unsure - she nods. It's not a promise, but it's her word to Aria that she's prepared to listen.

"We're here!"

 _One, two, three..._ They walk into the diner and Emily sheepishly looks around. _Four, five, six_.. Her eyes stop scanning the diner when she sees Alison, who is taking a customer's order. _Seven, eight, nine._. When Alison is done taking the customers order, she eyes the room for more customers and comes to a halt when she sees Emily. She's motionless, staring at Emily like suddenly, no one else exists; it's piercing, thrilling and heart stopping.

 _Nine seconds_.. That's how long Emily held her breath for and it's not until Alison looks back, that she breaths again. Alison's lips tug upwards, exploding into a radiant smile, surprised to see her. Emily reciprocates it instantly.

"Wow, whipped much?" Hanna comments, snapping Emily out of her gaze. When she approaches the four friends, Emily's palms begin to sweat and her legs become jelly.

"Emily, hi." Alison greets, almost breathlessly. Aria clears her throat and raises a brow, looking only slightly offended - Emily swears that she sees a blush on the girl's face, but it's quickly covered by a guilty expression as she turns to face Aria.

"Oh my God, Aria!" Alison laughs, pulling her friend into a hug.

"Long time no see, how're things?" Aria responds, pulling away but holding her friend's arms - Like she hasn't seen her in years. Alison's expression turns dopey and she shrugs, waving her hand.

"Things have.. Been- interesting. How about you? Congrats on the book." The pivot is obvious to Emily and she can see on Aria's face that it is to her too - Spencer and Hanna are clueless.

"Yeah, thanks." A beat of awkwardness goes by and Emily can't take it anymore.

"Do you have a lunch break soon?" Emily finds herself saying. It shocks her more than it does Alison, who's eyes light up.

"Yeah, I was actually about to go on one now," Alison replies, swaying side to side with her hands behind her back.

"Well, do you maybe... You know.. Want to-" Emily begins.

"Do you want to join us?" Hanna interrupts, flashing Alison a hopeful expression. A smile slides up Alison's face and she nods.

"I'd love to." _She looked right at me when she said that_ , Emily swears.

They all find a booth to sit in while Alison goes and gets their order. She returns five minutes later with everyone's food. They all went for a simple cheeseburger, fries and milkshake. Emily, Hanna, and Spencer sit on one side of the booth while Aria and Alison sit on the other side, catching each other up on gossip; Alison doesn't hesitate to ask her about Fitz - Aria kicks Emily under the table and throws her a glare that says 'we'll discuss this later'. After a while - Aria, Hanna, and Spencer talk among themselves and Alison and Emily discuss important matters; television.

"Favorite w/w character?" Alison asks Emily, pronouncing w/w as 'woo slash woo'.

"It's between Commander Lexa and Poussey Washington." Emily reveals, gaining an 'ah' of approval from Alison.

"You?" She reciprocates. The blonde's eyes squint, looking up while huffing; this is clearly a tough decision for her.

"Lucy Diamond from D.E.B.S" Emily laughs, finding that extremely cute for some reason and gives her puppy dog eyes - how does she know? She can see Aria at the corner of her eye shaking her head and she can hear Spencer sigh. Alison's face turns red for the second time today and a timid smile slides up her face.

"What? She's badass, okay." She defends, eating a chip and hovering a hand in front of her face to hide the never ending blush - so it seems.

"I've never actually seen it, I've only seen gifs of it on Tumblr," Emily reveals. Alison's jaw drops and she gasps, unimpressed; as if Emily just kicked her dog.

"You're kidding me?" Alison responds in disbelief. Emily shakes her head and Alison blinks.

"You have to see it, I'm actually personally offended that you haven't." She exaggerates. Emily lets out another laugh, amused by the girl's dramatic reaction.

"Okay, I'll watch it." She promises, raising her hands in surrender.

"Maybe you both should watch it together," Hanna suggests out of the blue. Emily freezes and feels her eyes widen involuntarily. Alison notices and judging by the way that she looks down awkwardly, she thinks that it was meant negatively. There's only one thing that she can do now. _Dammit, Hanna._

"You should come to our movie night," Emily adds onto Hanna's suggestion, internally patting herself on the back for saving her ass. Alison looks like she's considering it.

"Yeah, we do it every week. It'll be fun." Aria lies, attempting to help. Luckily it works and Alison nods.

"Okay, thanks." She agrees. _Okay, this is it, Emily. Ask her for her number_. When she's about to ask, something utterly horrible happens instead; she squeaks. It sounds a little like 'niaaahhheeh'. It's times like these that Emily wishes that she stayed in bed today and pulled a sickie, but sadly, you can't change the past. She clears her throat, runs a hand through her hair and feels her entire body burn; all that can be heard is a buzzing sound and the ecstatic beat of her heart. This is so embarrassing, it hurts. No one says anything for three whole seconds, they just look at her with confused expressions on their faces (Hanna looks sympathetic) and Alison watches her with a curious look on her face. Thankfully, Spencer's phone rings and it lifts the mood a bit.

"It's Toby, I gotta take this," Spencer tells the group, leaving momentarily.

"So- Anyone wants dessert?" Hanna asks, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Um, yeah. I'll have what you're having, be right back." Emily says, hastily leaving them and heading for the bathroom. Once she's in there, she feels relief sweep through her body, replacing the overwhelming tension in it. She looks into the mirror and sorts her hair, tidying it up. She notices the door behind her open and tenses again when she realizes that it's Alison. She greets her with a smile and stands next to Emily - to touch up her makeup. For a couple of minutes, they continue what they're doing in silence - Emily occasionally glances at her and swears that Alison does the same. And then, she speaks.

"Can I- Can I be... Real, for a second?" _Oh no,_ Emily thinks. She nods cautiously, watching Alison through the mirror; she looks like that she's trying to tread carefully. They share eye contact, staring at each other.. And then Aria walks in.

"Do you guys want sprinkles on your sundaes?" She asks them. They both shake their heads and she leaves. Just when Alison's about to speak again, someone else comes in - a customer. Alison presses her lips together in a tight line, then laughs.

"You know what," Alison says; as if she's lost all patience and fucks to give. She grabs Emily's arm and grabs a pen from her pocket. Emily jumps at the physical contact - something that she hasn't experienced in a long time. Her back hits the sink with a small thump and she's unsure of how to stand. She watches Alison's face as she writes, she's smirking smugly while concentrating. When she's done, she gives Emily a daring look, edging closer. She pulls away when she hears the cubicle open, but the look remains. After a beat, Alison leaves the bathroom, glancing back at Emily one more time before closing the door.

Once Emily's regained composure, she reads her arm. There's a phone number and a note.

'I find you cute. I always have. - A'

Her face is overtaken by a huge smile that works through her entire body and she does a little victory dance. Sadly, it's cut short when the customer who exited the cubicle looks at her like she's a mad woman. Normally, something like that would embarrass her, but right now? She's too happy to give a damn.


	3. will I see you tonight?

"Why are you all doom and gloom?" Hanna asks, sitting down next to Emily on the couch. It's been two days since the note incident and Emily has still yet to send Alison a text - but she's scared. _What if it's too soon?_ Or worse - _what if it's too late?_ Hanna nudges her and gives her a look that says 'spill'. With reluctance, Emily chooses to tell her.

"Alison gave me her number." Hanna nods and looks at her expectingly. When Emily looks down, embarrassed and shy; Hanna catches on.

"You haven't called her." Hanna states. Emily finally looks up and gives her a sheepish smile.

"Isn't there like, a three-day rule or something?" Emily wonders, causing Hanna to groan loudly.

"That's not a thing. Guys do that to make them seem hard to get when actually, they look like asses." Hanna explains. Emily responds with a scrunched up face filled with regret - _she should have sent her a text that day_.

"Just- send her a text, say hey," Hanna suggests. Emily cringes at the thought - _it'll be too pushy_.

"I don't know, Han." She says honestly. Hanna rolls her eyes and takes Emily's phone from the coffee table. Emily's hands make a clumsy effort in protest to get it back; she fails of course.

"Hanna, what the- Hanna don't you dare- Hanna stop" She attempts. Hanna has one hand on Emily's face, stopping her; while the other types out a text to Alison.

"Wow, no passcode Emily? Really?" Hanna scolds - though amused with this knowledge. Emily continues to grab helplessly for her phone.

"Hanna, come on- Please? I-" _Ding_. Hanna's expression turns smug, perfected with a fake 'apologetic' look.

"Oops." She says, shrugging. Emily's jaw clenches as she snatches her phone from her roommate, to see the damage she's done.

**Hey :) - Emily. x**

Emily gulps nervously at the kiss. She wonders - _What if it's too much_? _\- What if she doesn't reply? What if-_

_Ding._

Emily feels her heart stop and skin go cold. She takes one long deep breath, then reluctantly forces herself to check her message. Unfortunately (fortunately) it's Spencer, wondering when she's next free. _Thank God_.

"What did she say?" Hanna asks, peeping over Emily's shoulder nosily.

"It's Spencer. She want's to know when I'm free next." Emily reveals - Hanna _'ah's'_. It's clear that she's received a similar text.

"Same. I told her that I can do Thursday, you free then?"

"I'll find out tomorrow."

_Ding._

_Oh no,_ Emily panics. It's a message from Alison. Again, as if on cue - Hanna peeps over Emily's shoulder and grins proudly and stands up to leave the room.

"You're welcome." She tells Emily, wagging her eyebrows at her knowingly before leaving. The text reads.

**Hey.**

The first thing that Emily notices is that Alison didn't respond with a kiss - The second thing? She doesn't seem interested, nor that bothered. It makes Emily's mind go wild and she struggles to focus on anything else that night.

* * *

She never replied to Alison's cool message; she was unsure of what to say back. So today, Emily did not only dread work - but the train too. _It could be worse_ , she tries to persuade herself. _She did give you her number. She probably isn't a phone person. Maybe she- Ugh, who're you kidding_. Emily pauses her internal scolding when the train stops at Ravenswood, but then a thought crosses her mind; Hanna didn't call today and Hanna _always_ calls. Maybe she's busy, or maybe, she's actually sleeping at a decent hour. But that's not her. She decides to send her a text, to let her know that she's on her way home.

"Hey." A familiar or- Alison greets. She sits next to Emily as if everything is okay; normal. It fucks with Emily's head, but she's not about to make things weird, so she goes with it.

"Hey." She says back, offering her friend _(?)_ a small smile. Emily doesn't know how to act after their previous conversation - you know the one where Alison wrote a cute note on her arm. It's all very new to Emily also very intriguing - she can't explain for life of her why. Usually, this would seem like too much of a game to Emily - a game that she can't be bothered to keep up with, but this is different. _Alison_ is different.

"How was work?" Alison asks, followed by a head tilt and the most precious smile that she's ever seen. _God damn it._

"It was terrible. You?" It's always terrible. It's the same story every day, with a strange twist. Wonderwall, middle aged women screaming 'this is my jam' when Waterfalls plays, and then a completely outrageous twist; giving Emily another reason every shift to hate her job. Last week, a couple dressed in denim showed up to the bar and denim as in - the woman in a denim dress and denim boots; a man in a denim suit and a denim cowboy hat. Emily isn't too overly bothered when it comes to fashion, but that was, as Hanna would say _'a criminal offense to fashion'._

"Ugh, me too. What happened today? Did somebody turn up head to toe in denim again?" Alison wonders. Emily laughs pathetically, then shakes her head. _She wishes_.

"Remember Britney's video; Oops I did it again?" Alison groans in horror and sympathy then nods for Emily to continue.

"She downed five shots of tequila and vomited on my shoe,." Emily recalls, grimly looking at her poor leather boots. _They deserve better than this._ Alison cringes, then laughs.

"Wow, you're right- that sounds terrible."

"How about you?" Emily's learned in the past two weeks that Alison has a lot of creepy customers that try it on with her and pretentious hipsters who are _very_ specific about their coffee orders.

"These two idiots came in earlier and- Ugh- This asshole's goatie was drenched in glitter, so I knew that they were going to order something dumb." Alison begins and Emily's hooked.

"Halfway through asking what they wanted, his girlfriend interrupted me and ordered a freakin' _decaf_ soy latte with an _extra shot_ and cream.. I mean.. What the hell, _right_?" Alison rants, waving her hands as she does so. Emily finds it cute, for some crazy reason.

"What happened next?" Emily wonders. Alison gives her a smile that says ' _something horrible'_.

"I gave her a soy latte with an extra shot and cream, but not decaf. I hope that bitch can't sleep tonight." Alison reveals, with not an ounce of regret in her tone. It makes Emily laugh.

"Alison Bitterentis." Emily jokes. After a _questionable_ beat of silence, Alison cackles.

"That's amazing." She responds. When her laughter dies down, her eyes wonder Emily's face - Emily's unsure of the expression.

"It was nice seeing you- and Aria.. The other day." Alison says - as if to hint towards the bathroom incident. Emily doesn't dare to bring it up.

"You too." Emily says back, finding herself also wondering Alison's face - it's like a game of _'who will cave first and bring it up_ '. Alison almost looks caught off guard with Emily's response, she looks stuck for words. After what feels like five minutes (it's actually _ten second_ s) Alison looks away, blushing slightly.

"I had fun." She adds, watching for Alison's reaction - who just looks back with a big grin. _Is this.. Flirting? Is this a thing that's happening right now?_

"We should do it again sometime." Alison speaks, with her voice timid and her face suggestive - it's all kinds of _confusing._

"Well, we're thinking of having our movie night on Thursday.. If you're free-"

"I am." Alison hastily responds. Emily has a feeling that she's lost this game, especially with the way that she's crumbling under Alison's stare - not to mention, there actually isn't a movie night on Thursday, at least not yet - _she played herself._ Spencer's going to _kill_ her. Alison sits back and tilts her head and her stare grows more intense - as if she's analyzing her. It's not patronizing, but it is kind of unnerving - she looks at her like she's trying to figure her out.

"Next stop, Rosewood." The conductor interrupts. It startles Emily, but Alison remains unfazed.

"Okay, great. Just.. Fair warning.. Aria's obsessed with old horror movies." Emily warns, causing Alison to roll her eyes and smile.

"Alfred Hitchcock?" She wonders. Emily nods.

"She's still on that?

"Oh yeah, big time. Especially now she's with Ezra-" Emily doesn't even get a chance to finish his name before Alison begins to make a sickly noise and shiver - clearly she's still having trouble coming to terms with the news.

"What kind of movies do you like?" Alison questions. Emily bites the inside of her lip as she thinks; part of her doesn't want to say, because she doesn't want to come off as cheesy - but then again, nothing can get cheesier than Hanna's movie taste (her favorite movie is The Proposal).

"Honestly.. Anything with Julia Roberts." What she thought would make Alison cringe, makes her smile instead - Emily swears that there's a flash of adoration in her eyes.

"You're big on happy endings." Alison points out. There's something about the way she says it, but Emily can't put her finger on it. Before she has the chance to ask her the same question, the train stops. They both get up (reluctantly) and get off together.

"So, I'll send you a text?" Emily asks - mostly because she doesn't want a redo of their awkward non conversation the day previously. Alison nods.

"Yeah. Oh, by the way- Em." Emily doesn't miss the nickname used.

"Mhm?"

"Sorry if I seemed- Blunt.. When I replied yesterday. I probably came off as a dick, but that's actually just how I text. Sorry if I-" Alison apologizes, startling Emily.

"You don't have to apologize." Emily interrupts, giving her a sincere smile of reassurance. Alison lets out a breath - _she looks relieved_.

"See you tomorrow?" Emily adds - Alison's grin confirms that she will and Emily turns to walk away.

"Emily." Alison calls out from a few feet away. Emily turns around, unsure of what to expect - but if there's anything she's learned about Alison - she's full of unexpected surprises. When she looks at the blonde, she seems nervous.

"The note.. I meant it." She admits with a slight waver to her voice; it's discreet, but Emily spots it. It makes her gulp - it makes her eyes light up - it makes her heart pound - it makes her weak.

"I know." Emily almost whispers with a smile. As she turns to walk away again, she begins to realise how crazy all of this is. She's known the girl barely two weeks, yet she's pretty certain that this girl is going to make a mark; she already has. Alison Dilaurentis is unabashedly, undoubtfully, undeniably beautiful and it's becoming unbearable.

* * *

"Hanna, I'm home!" Emily calls out. If she's being honest, she's kind of concerned. In the nine months that they've been living together - Hanna's never _not_ called her. Truthfully, it's all very shady. She wonders down the hallway and over to the living room cautiously - the first thing that she hears is muffled sobbing coming from the living room. When she enters, she finds Hanna laying on the couch, sobbing. Instantly, Emily runs over and cradles her friend who is inconsolable.

"Hey, what happened?" Emily asks, voice laced thick with concern. After a few beats, Hanna finally speaks up.

"I got fired." She reveals through her cries. Shit.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asks carefully. Hanna shakes her head.

"No, I just want to get drunk- I can't deal with this right now." Emily understands and removes her embrace from her friend, then heads for her bedroom. Moments later, Emily returns with a bottle of rum and glasses. Hanna wipes her tears away and squints at the bottle.

"Was that hidden away? In your room?" Hanna scolds. Emily raises her brows and places a hand on her hip.

"You and Aria are like vultures, I had no choice." She responds simply. Hanna sniffles before speaking.

"You rest your case, now pour me a shot."

* * *

Four drinks later and Hanna's tears have subsided. She's currently yelling, calling her former boss the most obsene insults imaginable.

"She's a piece of dribble piss." That's insult number five. It makes Emily's eyes widen, though this one is much tamer than the ones said previously. Hanna pours herself another drink.

"I hate her- she made me seperate clothes hangers, babysit her shitty children who are spoiled brats." She continues, taking a massive swig of her drink.

"You deserved better Han, I'm sorry." Emily sympathises. Hanna pouts and shrugs.

"Gillian aka Satan." Hanna slurs. She takes another swig, finishing her drink. She exhales deeply before speaking again.

"I-I'm gonna show her. I'm gonna design better clothes than her and I'm gonna be nice to my interns- they will never have to seperate a single clothes hanger. You'll see." She promises. Emily has faith that this will happen, sooner than Hanna thinks. She's good at what she does - She's going to make it big. She knows it.

"Onwards and upwards." Hanna adds, lifting her drink, expecting Emily to do the same. Once she does, they clink their glasses against eachother and Emily downs her drink - Hanna goes to down hers, but is suddenly aware that hers is empty.

"So, how was it?" Hanna questions.

"How was what?" Emily asks, giving her roommate a puzzled look.

"The train, with Alison! Give me the details, I need to take my mind off of this." Hanna demands.

"There's not really much to say- Well.. She's coming here Thursday for movie night. Oh, heads up- We're having a movie night on Thursday." Emily reveals, chugging the rest of her drink. Hanna gives her a look that says _'tell me more, tell me more_ '.

"And, there was a thing.. Kind of. Well, I don't-"

"Oh my God Em, just tell me already." Hanna interrupts impatiently.

"She told me that she meant what she said on the note." Emily tells her, gaining raised brows and an offended look from her friend.

"Note? What note? You never mentioned a note!" _Damn, she's right.. I didn't._

"When we were in the bathroom at the diner, she wrote on my arm and-"

"And?" Hanna interrupts again, wanting Emily to get to the point.

"It said 'I think you're cute, I always have.'" Hanna gapes at Emily, shocked by this reveal. She then proceeds to squeal and nudge Emily with her arm.

"Em! That's awesome!" She glees, smiling for the first time this evening.

"It is?"

"Yes! She's into you, fact." Emily pouts with a doubtful expression painted on her face - Hanna's eyes roll and she smirks.

"Told you it was destiny." It's Emily's turn to roll her eyes - Hanna tuts and shakes her head.

"Alison and Emily, sitting in the tree-" Hanna sings, hugging her body dramatically - she's really going all out with this performance. This time, Emily squeals, nudging her friend to stop.

"Hanna, we're not even-" Emily tries.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes-" Hanna continues, moving closer and closer to Emily deliberately - to make her blush. Emily knows that there's only one way to end this horrendous song.

"Rum?"

"Oooh." _And that's how you pivot_.

* * *

It's five in the morning and the roommates are absolute, ridiculously drunk. They've drunk three-quarters of their rum and somehow, every conversation they have ends up on Alison. It's mainly Hanna's fault, really - though Emily doesn't help herself.

"She's just so pretty, Han. I- I can't believe that I can't remember her.." Emily admits. She's admitted this many times this evening - it actually feels great to say it out loud, to be honest.

"Wa-Wait here bitch- I have something important to show you." Hanna leaps up from the floor (they somehow ended up there around an hour ago) and sprints to her room. A moment later, she returns with a book; more specifically, a year book. She falls down to the floor and loses her balance momentarily, rolling around - she's very pissed. She flips through the book until she lands on the page she was searching for. Alison Dilaurentis; pointing at it with purpose.

"Do you remember her?" Hanna wonders. Emily looks at the photo and the weird part - she does. But this isn't the Alison she knows now. The Alison in the photo has long blonde wavy hair and is sporting a yellow blouse; she looks young but still beautiful - but she looks different. It's the expression on her face and it's the posture, Emily thinks. Here, she seems like the queen bee that Hanna goes on about. She's not her Alison.

"I- I recognise her, but no.. I don't remember her." Emily admits. Hanna looks back in shock and mild confusion.

"I mean- yeah, I remember seeing her in the halls... But I don't remember ever speaking to her." Hanna finally understands and 'ah's'.

It's now five thirty and things have gotten a bit out of control. They have finished the bottle and are now drinking questionable looking beer that Lucas left at the apartment a year ago. It's all very blurry.

"Y- I- You should do it." Hanna encourages. Emily nods, trying her best to navigate her phone. She types in Alison's name in the search bar on facebook. This is so wrong - but Emily's way too drunk to notice at this point. After a few fumbling attempts correctly spells her name and hits search. When she finds her, she goes onto her profile. Hanna leans on her shoulder, 'oohing' when she sees.

"I-I mean it won't be weird, right? S-she won't think I'm a-"

"No, Em. List-Listen to me Em, listen to this." Hanna says in a very serious voice. Her eyes well up as she grabs Emily's chin to face her.

"Y-you are like my favorite friend- Don't tell the others." Hanna reveals in a whisper. Emily pouts as her eyes fill up with tears.

"A-nd you need to get laid." She adds, ruining this rather lovely moment.

"Hanna, no." Emily slurs.

"I don't- I want to go on dates with her and-" On that note, Hanna makes a fart noise.

"Boring! Okay, okay Em- add her." Emily takes a deep breath and does just that. The rest of the morning is kind of a blur - but when her phone wakes her up at three in the afternoon (and she has a killer hangover) she notices some notifications which make her go numb.

**Alison Dilaurentis accepted your friend request.**

**Alison Dilaurentis liked your status.**

**Alison Dilaurentis liked your photo.**

_What the hell happened last night?_

* * *

Emily stumbles into the kitchen, in desperate need of water and aspirin. When she enters, it looks like Hanna had the same thought.

"Hey-"

"Jees- Em, don't shout." Hanna snaps, but barely - her voice is almost gone from all the shouting last night. She's wearing sunglasses and a hat, drinking a coffee.

"I need you to check my Facebook.." Emily tells her, getting straight to the point. Hanna's mouth falls open.

"Oh my God.. I forgot we did that." Hanna breathes out, gasping then giggling. Emily clenches her jaw and rubs her forehead again.

"What exactly did we do?" Emily asks, the impatience in her voice is heavy and Hanna obviously senses it when she pulls a silly face that says 'calm down'.

"Well... You added Alison on Facebook." Hanna reveals - though this isn't the information Emily needs.

"Yeah, I remember that... I mean, what happened next?" Emily pushes. Hanna shrugs like it's not a big deal.

"You wrote a status. Hold on-" Hanna picks up her phone from the counter and looks for it - the next few seconds seem to drag.

"Ah, you said- I ham- you literally spelled ham by the way. I ham so trunk rit noo with mah brfl. And then you posted a picture of us. Oh my God, delete it, we look awful." Hanna begs, giving Emily a scolding look. Emily groans out loud and internally, knowing that Alison liked those posts.

Shortly after this, Emily spends the next hour vomitting and has to call in sick. Around three in the morning, Alison sends her a message.

**Hey, didn't see you on the train tonight. I hope that you're not suffering too much, I ham looking forward to Thursday. :P**

* * *

"I can't believe that you talked me into this." Spencer complains, entering the apartment. She stops abruptly at the hallway and covers her nose, disgusted.

"Wow, you really weren't lying when you said that it smells like a bar in here," Spencer adds.

"Where's Hanna?" She asks. Emily leads her to the living room, where Hanna lays down pathetically on a cushion on the floor, surrounded by mess. It makes Spencer gasp - she knew that it was going to be bad, but she didn't expect this. She shakes her head, disapprovingly.

"She's been like this since Monday." Emily reveals.

"Okay, time to get up Han." She orders lightly. When Hanna whines and sips her beer, instead of listening, she claps. The blonde glares at her.

"Seriously, Spence? It's not like I have anything else to do." Hanna points out. Spencer stares back blankly and blinks.

"You're not going to sit around every day and get drunk. That's not happening." Spencer says sternly. Hanna looks back like a grumpy teenager who's parent just threatened to confiscate her phone.

"You're not my mother, Spencer. I'm twenty-one years old, I can do whatever I want." She complains. Spencer scoffs and Emily awkwardly hovers as she watches their interaction.

"If you don't get up in the next ten seconds, I'll call your mother." Spencer threatens. That catches Hanna's attention - she considers it - and then shrugs.

"Okay, see if I care." She responds. Spencer waves her hands in the air, then rubs her temples. Luckily (thankfully) there's a knock on the door, giving Emily an excuse to leave the room; Hanna and Spencer's arguments are ugly to be around. When she answers, she's relieved to see Aria on the other side of the door. She's smiling and holding a pie.

"I brought key-lime-" Aria begins.

"Hanna, give me the bottle!" Spencer yells from the other room, causing Aria to pause midsentence and eyes to widen slightly.

"Hanna still won't leave the apartment?" Aria guesses - Emily gives her a look that confirms this.

"Spencer, get off of me!-" Hanna yells. With a huff, Aria and Emily close the front door and join their friends. When they enter the room, the first thing they see is Spencer - on top of Hanna and pulling the bottle from her and Hanna throwing a tantrum. After a while, Hanna finally gives in, practically growling at Spencer - Emily's certain that Spencer jumps.

"Fine, you win. God." Hanna admits dramatically in defeat.

"Go take a shower, you smell like McDonalds and sweat." Spencer orders, causing Hanna to tut and breathe out again.

"Okay, God." Hanna leaves the room and Spencer looks around - visibly cringing at the mess.

"And you two, help me tidy up. I'm not having a movie night in this." Spencer demands, pointing at the mess. Aria and Emily exchange a look, deciding that it would be best to just get to it.

* * *

After an hour, the apartment is spotless and smells like lavender; Hanna is clean and smells like soap and Emily is having a meltdown - Alison is on her way and Emily finds herself cleaning the already squeaky clean surfaces. It gets too much that Aria of all people takes the cloth from her and orders her to sit down.

"Seriously Em, you need to take a breath." Aria tells her, taking a seat next to her.

"It's going to be just fine." She adds, with a reassuring smile that makes Emily feel less panicked.

"You're right- Sorry for being so- you know." Emily apologizes.

"Don't be, it's understandable." Aria tells her, nudging their shoulders against one another as comfort. Meanwhile, Hanna and Spencer are arguing over Netflix.

"No, Spence. We're not watching anything that requires reading." Hanna tells her, putting her foot down.

"Okay, then no Reese Witherspoon." Spencer compromises. Hanna considers it.

"Deal." They shake on it and continue scrolling through the movie section. Aria and Emily share another glance - Emily has a feeling that this is going to be a common occurrence tonight. When a ding echoes through the room, the girls all check their phones - Emily makes a mental note to change hers to avoid further confusion - It's Aria's phone.

"Alison's outside, I'm going to go get her," Aria tells the group. She gets up and leaves the room with her phone and Emily braces herself - it's difficult to do so when Hanna's doing that thing with her eyebrows and Spencer's smirking at her. After a couple of minutes, she hears the front door open, followed by muffled chatter and before she knows it - Alison and Aria are in the living room. The blonde has a plastic bag filled with what Emily guesses are supplies for tonight and she sheepishly greets everyone - then looks right at Emily. They smile at each other and Emily can feel herself giving her puppy eyes. Like last time, she knows this because of the way that her friends react; Hanna grinning, Aria tutting and Spencer rolling her eyes.

"Hi." Alison greets, walking over to her.

"Hey," Emily replies, clearing her throat as Alison sits down next to her on the couch. Alison starts emptying her bag; she pulls out a bag of popcorn, chocolate, and D.E.B.S - the movie of the night.

"Let the movie night commence." Aria announces, grabbing the DVD from Alison and proceeding to set it up.

_This is going to be a long night._

* * *

It takes them half an hour to set everything up, because Aria insisted on making everybody hot chocolate and Hanna ran to the store for booze, saying that 'it was a necessity'. Then, followed the great discourse of the evening - The seats; Hanna called dibs on the armchair (much to Spencer's dismay), Aria and Spencer are laying in a nest of cushions on the floor (that was the only compromise that Spencer agreed to) and Alison and Emily are sat together on the couch, overlooking the room. Finally, Spencer turns out the lights and Hanna clicks play.

"Oh my God, she's off Fast and Furious!" Hanna points out, pointing at the television in awe. Everyone internally groans, but Alison giggles, finding her reactions amusing - Emily giggles too, finding Alison's adorable.

"They really should listen to Max, she's the only one with any sense. It's obviously a trap!" Spencer yells.

"Doesn't Max kind of remind you of Spencer?" Alison whispers to Emily - she nods in response and they both let out breathy laughs.

"I heard that and I agree," Spencer speaks, gaining a laugh from Hanna. Aria doesn't though, her attention is solely on the film. A few minutes pass and Emily swears that as the film goes on, she and Alison seem to move closer to each other - currently, they're shoulder to shoulder and Emily suddenly forgets how to breathe - it takes her breath away, literally.

Ten minutes have passed and Amy and Lucy have run away together; meanwhile, Alison and Emily still sit shoulder to shoulder and Emily still struggles to breathe due to it - it doesn't get any easier when she feels Alison's stare from the corner of her eye - it's hard to function. She doesn't know what to do with her hands, so she rests them on her thighs, fidgeting awkwardly. She dares to look at Alison - just once - and there's a smug smirk on her face. Emily's unsure why that is at first, but then she feels a hand slide over her thigh until they reach her own fumbling hand - stroking the palm with her thumb, them cupping it. Emily gasps, shocked by the contact, then eases into it. When she dares to look again, Alison looks right back with adoring eyes - the intensity has left them and this is purely Alison - to the core.

Another couple of minutes go by before Emily glances at her again - she can't comprehend why, she just has this urge to do so and when she does, Alison looks back again; she looks like she's considering something and in the two weeks Emily has known Alison, she has learned that the girl has never been very predictable - she always seems to do the unexpected, surprising Emily constantly. The blonde simply sighs, sits closer to her and leans her head on her shoulder - she doesn't doubt that Alison can hear her heart pound; but Alison continues to stroke the palm of her hand soothingly and Emily concludes that maybe, she could get used to this.

* * *

"I try to discover! A little something to make me sweeter!" Aria and Hanna sing, bopping their heads to the beat - Emily spots Spencer tapping her fingers to it too and she is now a hundred percent sure that she's loving the movie as much as everyone else in the room - it has Emily grinning widely. Meanwhile, Alison and Emily's fingers linked at some point, Emily's not too sure when (it was when Janet kicked Scud's ass). They've also started drinking the booze that Hanna bought earlier; vodka and lemonade, to be more specific. She's certain that this is a terrible idea, but right now? She doesn't care. She notices that this is another common occurrence around Alison.

"This movie's going in my top ten!" Hanna announces to the group and surprisingly? No one complains. Emily internally does so, however, when Alison removes her embrace.

"What did you think?" Alison asks Emily.

"I loved it, the ending was nice. I can see why Lucy Diamond is your favorite." Emily comments. Alison's eyes wonder her face again - like the other day.

"Emily's a sucker for fairy tale endings." Spencer states. Everyone but Emily 'mhm's' and she shrugs - it's true.

"Yeah, she can't watch a movie with a shit ending.. Unless it's an action film." Hanna adds.

"Remember back in high school when-" Aria begins.

"Lalalala, don't even think about it, Montgomery." Emily warns. Aria responds with her hands raised in the air in surrender.

"What happened?" Alison asks curiously. Emily glares at her - for the first time. Alison laughs lightly.

"Nothing. _Right_ guys?" Emily tells everyone. In unison, they all say 'yes maam' and have a sip of their drink.

"Man, can you believe that we finished high school three years ago?" Hanna points out. Aria shakes her head before speaking.

"Yeah, it's so weird- "

"It really is." Spencer sarcastically says, throwing a subtle dig at her dating Ezra; no one misses it.

"Hey, we're both consenting adults. It isn't weird." Aria defends.

"It's a bit weird." Emily adds quietly, having another sip. Everyone laughs, including Aria.

"Anyway, it just feels like a million years ago." Aria finishes. Everyone agrees.

"So does college." Alison adds, gaining a puzzled look from Aria.

"Ali, we graduated last year."

"I know, it just feels like- A lifetime ago." There's a sad truth to those words - Alison wanted to be teaching right about now, but instead, she's working in a diner. The world is cruel sometimes. After a beat, Hanna claps her hands.

"Okay, who wants some shots?"

* * *

Three reluctant shots from everybody but Hanna and Spencer (they were loving it), two beers each and a jager bomb later; it's safe to assume that everyone is a range from borderline tipsy (Hanna) to extremely pissed (Aria). Currently, they're nominating someone to go get more booze because now, this is apparently a party.

"I nominate Emily because she's the most sensible one." Aria says - Spencer gasps, offended.

"Excuse me, I have you know-" Spencer begins.

"Oh, okay- Do you want to go-"

"Not a hope in hell." Spencer finishes, causing everyone to giggle.

"I nominate Alison," Hanna suggests, doing that thing with her eyebrows - Emily wants to kick her. When everyone drunkenly attempts to decide and fail, Emily decides to take one for the team. She stands like she's about to climb mount everest - it's very extra.

"My hero." Spencer gratefully says, grabbing her hand, then her purse. She pulls out thirty dollars and gives it to her.

"Get gin." Spencer orders - everyone groans, disgusted.

"No, get vodka." Hanna suggests instead.

"Just get whatever" Aria adds. She'll drink anything at this point.

"Okay, I'll be right back. Please don't break the apartment." Emily begs - surprisingly, their track record isn't so great and Aria's reputation proceeds her when she clumsily knocks over a lamp on cue. Luckily, it survived the fall.

"I will try not to." Aria says apologetically. Just as she's about to leave, Alison gets up.

"I'll go with you." She offers, with a small smile.

"You don't have to-"

"I want to." Alison finishes. She's becoming predictable. The blonde messes Aria's hair like she's a puppy, then leaves the room and of course - they have something to say.

"Alison and Emily sitting in a tree-" Hanna's singing gets cut short when Emily throws a pillow at her face. _Not today_.

* * *

They take a shortcut through the woods - because clearly, they're sensible adults. She can just imagine the lecture Spencer will give them when they return and of the 'dangers of Rosewood'. It's nothing compared to Ravenswood though, in Emily's opinion - that place is freaky. Alison and Emily have been walking for a few minutes, keeping the chatter to the minimum. This isn't out of sheer awkwardness, it's mainly due to the fact that as soon as she set foot outside, the effect of the alcohol hit her, hard. She's struggling to walk straight - she notices Alison struggle to do the same.

"Ugh, I need to sit down," Alison reveals, looking for the closest spot. When she sees a rock, she stumbles over to it and sits, with Emily following her lead.

"You okay?" Emily asks, concerned. She kneels in front of Alison, looking up at her for a beat.

"Yeah. Yeah, the alcohol just- hit me as soon as went outside. I need a moment." Alison explains, Emily nods, moving next to her - they sit shoulder to shoulder again.

"I'm glad that I'm not the only one." They sit there in a blissful silence, enjoying each others company - occasionally asking each other if they're okay and stealing glances at one another - then the atmosphere changes, it becomes more charged. It begins with Emily letting out a breathy laugh.

"What is it?" Emily wonders, looking at her; Alison looks around her as if she's reminiscing and then - she's looking right at her with a glint in her eye.

"This- this is the kissing rock." Alison reveals, laughing again and it makes Emily's heart race.

"What's the kissing rock?" She responds quietly, physically unable to speak louder all of the sudden. Alison's face edges closer so that they're barely an inch apart - there's a mischievous look in her eye as she speaks.

"Legend has it; people have been sneaking off there for hundreds of years." Alison begins, looking directly in her eyes - it makes Emily feel tingly and overwhelmed - she can feel her breath on her as she speaks.

"You go there with somebody and you can feel the ghosts of the other lovers spying on you pushing you to do it." She adds, licking her lips - then leaning back slightly.

"I remember coming here when I was seventeen, with Noel Kahn, ugh. I remember him saying to me 'you should never disappoint a ghost'. Well, I was very disappointed." Alison tells her, looking around her again.

"It was the worst, bleh." She finishes. Emily has no words - just a sudden surge of want, determination, and eagerness. It's a split second decision - one that could end whatever the hell this is - but possibly one that will begin it, for real. She exhales a shaky breath - places a hand behind Alison's neck and smashes their lips together - Alison quickly reciprocates it, her hands ending up in Emily's hair, her tongue poking the entrance of Emily's mouth with her tongue which Emily accepts eagerly. A shiver slides up her entire body, working it's way up like a current. They kiss and they kiss and they kiss, until they both pull away breathlessly, still holding each other.

"How was that?" Emily breathes out, shocked at herself for being able to say anything, let alone that.

"The best," Alison whispers, looking at Emily with hooded eyes. Emily goes to kiss her again but is sadly interrupted when Alison's phone rings. They don't move an inch when she answers, they lean their foreheads against each other as she speaks.

"Hey Aria- Yeah- Okay. Bye." When Alison hangs up, they both chuckle.

"Ah, she wants us to grab more beer and vodka." Alison explains. Emily nods, then gulps.

"So- That was interesting." Alison points out, running her fingers through Emily's hair.

"Yeah, it was." Emily agrees, still in awe that she kissed her. She always thought that it would be the other way around, she shocked herself.

"We should get going before drunk Hanna comes looking for us," Emily warns her. With a nod, they pull apart and Alison walks ahead, stopping for a moment. It puzzles Emily briefly, but then Alison extends her hand out, an invitation for Emily to hold it as they walk - it makes her heart jump and she knows for certain now, that she's got it bad.


	4. be careful of them in the dark

It's the clang of pots and pans hitting the floor that startle Emily and wake her up, followed by muffled yelling coming from Hanna in the kitchen. Her clumsy hand fumbles for her phone from the bedside table, to check the time -only to find that it's off. _Fantastic._ Reluctantly, Emily drags herself out of bed and is immediately hit with an agonizing headache. She scolds herself internally for drinking vodka the previous night - she knows that it's always responsible for the most painfully unbearable hangovers. When she exits her bedroom, she's overcome by the smell of beer and.. _Cigarettes?_ For a brief moment, she stands there with a clueless, wondering expression on her face and scans the living room with her eyes. When they land on the sofa, that's when everything comes rushing back.

_The movie, the beer, the walk and the kissing rock._

_Fuck._

The kiss replays on a loop in her mind and the things that were said before it do too. It isn't until the fifth time that she realizes that she's the one who kissed her. _I did that, I kissed Alison Dilaurentis. Fuuck_. It then occurs to her that Alison _isn't_ here and wonders where she is. _Did she go home?_ She's so deep in her thoughts that she almost doesn't notice Spencer walk by. - Spencer stands next to Emily, looking in her line of sight, then back at her friend with a mildly concerned expression on her face.

"What are you doing?" Spencer questions her. When Emily doesn't respond right away, she clicks her fingers in front of her face; finally catching her attention.

"Hm?" Emily responds; with her face flushed, doing a horrendous job at hiding it with her hair. Of course, Spencer catches on; raising a brow and crossing her arms and waiting for her to tell all.

"What?" Unfortunately for Emily, that response comes out in a squeal - sounding like a character from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Spencer smirks at her knowingly, tilting her head and waggling her eyebrows.

"So something did happen between you two," Spencer states proudly. _How does she do that?_

"I don't know what you're talking about." Emily bites back poorly which only eggs her friend on. She tries to speak again, but Emily cuts her off pathetically before she has the chance, by making a run for it to the kitchen. When she enters the room, the sight before her is scarier than the inside of the trash can; there's over a dozen empty beer bottles, broken egg shells, and vegetables scattered across the surfaces and floor. To top it off - there's also three pans with what looks like burned pancakes on them. Literally stuck onto them, and a Hanna lecturing Aria.

"Aria, are you kidding me? I left you for two minutes so I could pee!" Hanna scolds.

"You asked me to watch the omelets, so I did!"

"You realize that you're supposed to flip them, right?" Hanna patronizes, moving closer and closer to Aria with every word.

"You didn't ask me to do that." Aria defends, edging closer to Hanna and pointing at her. Spencer tuts and stands between the both of them, which Emily is thankful for. - She doesn't think that she has the energy within her to deal with their bullshit today.

"It's too early for this. Aria, give me the eggs, I'll take over from here." Aria pouts and raises her brows, giving Spencer an apologetic glance - Emily sighs irritably.

"That does it, we're going to The Brew." Emily orders. There are no arguments with the suggestion and the group all exit the kitchen to get ready, apart from Spencer who's pouring herself a glass of water. Emily fiddles with a kitchen towel; considering asking Spencer where Alison is. Just as she's about to speak, Spencer beats her to it, and Emily continues to wonder _how does she do that?_

"She left at seven, her sister locked herself out of their apartment," Spencer reveals, to which Emily sighs with relief - grateful that she didn't scare her away.

"What happened last night?" Spencer nosily asks again. Emily shrugs.

"I don't remember anything after we got back." She tells her honestly. Spencer nods and has another couple of gulps of her water before speaking again.

"I think that you guys got back around midnight. You were both definitely drunker than before you left."

"We didn't drink more until we got back, though," Emily says matter-of-factly, causing Spencer to scoff and choke on her drink.

"You both drank a couple of beers on your way back." Spencer points out - Emily suddenly has a flashback of them doing this. It was Alison's idea. They were cold and her theory was ' _the more we drink, the warmer we'll get *sniffle*_ '. It makes Emily's heart swoon at how adorable she is.

"Oh." _Oh. What if I did something em_ -.

"You didn't do anything embarrassing if that's what you're worried about. We drank some more, talked a bit and then played some drinking games. You and Ali fell asleep on the couch." Spencer continues reassuringly. In that moment, Emily swears that Spencer is psychic, but more importantly... _Her and Alison fell asleep together?_

"How did I end up in my bed?"

"Me and Ali carried you before she left." Emily feels her stomach flip in embarrassment that Alison carried her to bed, and that Alison witnessed the horrific state of her bedroom. It could be worse, she reminds herself. _At least you didn't vomit._

"So, what happened between you guys?" Spencer pushes again, obviously determined to find out. It is then, that Emily caves.

"We kissed." She says simply with a shrug - as if it isn't a big deal. An amused grin slides up Spencer's face and Emily can feel a blush forming on hers - this is not the reaction that she was hoping for, _Spencer's meant to be grossed out by this mushy stuff._ Though, Emily's seen Spencer's wedding plans and they are most certainly the mushiest to ever mushy.

"You owe me ten bucks, Hastings!" Hanna yells from the living room, startling the pair. Emily makes a mental note to close the door properly from now on, before having these kind of discussions. Something then occurs to her.

"You guys bet money over me and Alison kissing?" Emily accuses. Spencer shrugs in confirmation and Hanna barges into the room with a look of triumph on her face.

"Of course. I'm unemployed, Spencer's rich and I had a good feeling about this." Hanna defends. _Typical Hanna._ Emily laughs and lightly nudges the blonde with her elbow.

"You're an idiot." Emily mockingly insults.

"Yes, but I'm an idiot with ten extra dollars in my purse. Fork it over, Spencer." The blonde demands, waving her hand in front of Spencer's face.

Spencer lets out a defeated sigh while grabbing the money from her purse and giving it to her. Hanna snatches it from her with a satisfied smile.

"Spend it wisely."

"Of course. Hey Em, breakfast on me." Hanna says; flaunting the money like it's a million bucks - much to Spencer's dismay, who just rolls her eyes.

"I'll get ready."

* * *

Emily doesn't know what's worse - The fact that her boss called her into work at the last minute or this hideous hangover. The winner is Spencer dropping her off in Ravenswood instead of the city, due to a wedding emergency. - actually causing Emily to arrive over an hour early, leaving her stranded ten miles away, in town that she barely knows. She didn't have the heart to ask Spencer to wait with her; it was bad enough that she had to ask for a lift. So, Emily wonders the streets - pretending to look busy on her dead phone that she has still yet to charge - trying to prevent looking lost. She know's Retros and Shakey Shack - but she isn't about to make things awkward by just showing up there and if she goes to Retros now? They'll make her start her shift early, and she isn't very fond of that idea either. Eventually, the sky makes it rain and she's left with an ultimatum. _Work or Alison?_ She huffs and walks quickly down the road to Shakey Shack, using her bag to cover her hair. She stumbles into the diner; brushes the water off of her shoulders, avoids eye contact with the judging customers and approaches the counter. She's relieved when she doesn't see Alison behind it.

"Hey, what can I get you?" The worker asks, like she's trying her best to be polite, but is overrun by tiredness. Alison often tells her about the horrible (illegally) long shifts that her manager gives them. - Emily can relate.

"One americano, please." With a nod and a huff, the woman takes the change from Emily and begins to make her coffee.

"I'll bring it over." Emily nods and smiles gratefully, before sitting on a stool at the end of the bar. She grabs the portable charger from her bag and plugs her phone into it, due to not having had the chance to do so earlier. After a couple of minutes, her phone switches on and her heart begins to pound when she notices two text messages from Alison. She considers her options; _read the text now and reply, read the text later so you don't have to worry about it at work or just... Put your phone in the bin.. Pretend you were mugged or something._ Her genius train of thoughts are interrupted when the woman brings over her coffee.

"Thanks," Emily says, getting ignored as the woman speaks to another customer. _Nice._ She takes a sip of her coffee and decides to bite the bullet. She takes a huge gulp of her coffee and clicks on the message.

**Alison - Hey, I had a good time last night. Thanks for inviting me. :) x**

Okay, so far so good.

**Alison - We should do it again sometime. :P**

She tries not to overthink the vacant kiss in the second text, but of course - she does anyway. _So, am I supposed send a kiss back or not? Do I do the same thing that she did? Send her two messages, one with a kiss and one without? No, that would be weird._ She begins to tap her fingers on the bar rhythmically as she internally freaks out and actually considering calling Hanna for advice.

"Emily?" A familiar voice speaks, pulling Emily out of her momentary crisis. It's Alison. She's standing on the opposite side of the bar, her head tilted and face amused; with a hint of surprise. Emily feels a blush creep up her cheeks for the third time today - _when will the universe give me a break?_

"Hey," Emily responds, with a shy smile painted on her face, she can feel the puppy eyes form and she's so glad that Spencer isn't here to witness it.

"Hi." Alison's expression mirrors Emily's and they stare at each other for a few beats, speechless; mostly because they're both awkward and have no idea how to speak all of the sudden. Emily looks away, to prevent looking creepy and notices that the woman who served her earlier is looking between them with a fond smile on her face, edging closer and closer to Alison. The younger blonde looks to her co-worker with a warning expression on her face, but that doesn't stop her. She kind of reminds Emily of Hanna.

"Can I help you, Charlotte?" Alison questions. _Charlotte as in Alison's older sister. This cannot get any more uncomfortable._

"Come on Ali, are you going to introduce me?" At that, Alison covers her face with the palm of her hand and clears her throat.

"Charlotte, this is my- this is Emily. Emily, this is Charlotte- my sister." Alison stutters out, looking between her sister and Emily cautiously. Emily doesn't miss the mistake. Charlotte gives Alison a look that Emily can only guess says ' _what the hell was that_ ' before extending her hand to her.

"Nice to meet you, Emily." Charlotte greets sincerely. They politely shake each other's hands and Emily grins, feeling more at ease.

"You too. I've heard a lot about you." Emily reveals - cringing inwardly at her choice of words. - She doesn't want to seem patronizing or overbearing.

"Likewise," Charlotte says back knowingly, flashing her a wink. Alison's eyes go wide and her cheeks blush furiously. The younger blonde nudges her older sister, giving her a scolding look and points to the end of the bar.

"There's a customer waiting to be served." She tries, looking like she wants this to end as much as Emily does. Charlotte shakes her head and starts to laugh.

"It was nice meeting you, Americano." Emily frowns in confusion at the nickname, then catches on - something tells her that that one won't go away. After the longest ten seconds of her life, the woman finally walks away - and Alison's face scrunches up and she places her hands on the counter, tapping her fingers just like Emily was doing was not too long ago. - _She's cute when she blushes_ , Emily notes.

"She's the worst, I'm sorry." Alison apologizes, her smile making a comeback.

"No no, she's nice," Emily reassures her. She notices that Alison's fingers are still tapping the counter and she instinctively reaches over and covers her left hand with her right, soothing it with her thumb. When it registers to Emily what she's doing, she tenses slightly - unsure whether or not she's crossing a line. To her surprise though, Alison places her spare hand over Emily's, cupping it gently. It's soothing - it's comfortable - _it's right_. And that's all it takes for all the awkwardness there was to dissipate.

"Damn," Emily mutters when she sees the time on Alison's watch.

"What is it?" Alison asks, sounding worried.

"I have to leave for work in a minute," Emily reveals with a pout, making the blonde laugh lightly.

"You catching the night train?" Alison wonders, her voice quiet and laced with hope. Emily nods timidly, watching the blonde consider something.

"Can we go for another walk?" She adds.

"Yes." Emily hastily responds, not wasting any time. Alison let's out a breath - as if she's been holding it for the entirety of this conversation. The blonde's gaze flickers from Emily's lips to her eyes a few times - Emily finds herself doing the same thing, but in the end, it's her lips that win. She isn't sure who leans in first, she's actually pretty sure that they both do at the same time. Emily stops for a beat when their noses graze, simply just to look at her; her blue eyes crossed, due to her attention solely being on Emily's lips, her mouth smiling and her dimples forming on her cheeks. Alison Dilaurentis is an extraordinary human being and Emily feels like the universe is finally doing her favors. Their lips connect in a sweet, chaste kiss. Though it only lasts a second, Emily knows that it will linger on her lips and in her lungs for hours to come.

"Dilaurentis!" A voice from behind the counter shouts. The couple doesn't startle, they pull away slowly with their eyes still on each other, and they say goodbye. When Alison finally pulls her gaze away (not before giving Emily that smile which continues to baffle her.) she turns to face the man, who Emily assumes to be the manager.

"You're paid to pour coffee for the customers, not smooch them." The man reminds her in a biting manner.

"Sorry Darren" The older man looks at Emily; like he's sussing her out and staring into her soul. - It makes her feel uneasy - it's clear that he isn't fond of her. She then looks at the blonde, who gives her an apologetic look. That seems to work because 'Darren' gives her a small smile in response and goes back into the kitchen. Alison turns her attention back to Emily.

"See you later?" Alison asks, swaying slightly with a glint in her eye.

"Definitely." Alison walks away, stealing one last glance at her - unfortunately, this causes her to walk straight into Charlotte, startling her. Charlotte shakes her head and says something that Emily can't quite make out, then hands her a takeaway coffee.

"One americano." She says, getting a puzzled look from Emily in response.

"On the house," Charlotte adds, to make it more clear. Emily gives her a small smile for the kind gesture but feels bad.

"You don't have-"

"Take the damn coffee." The older Dilaurentis interrupts - like this is a thing that she doesn't do so often. She surrenders and picks it up, taking a sip. Charlotte smirks and gives her a nod before serving another customer. Emily grabs her purse and gets up to leave. She spots Alison, who's eyes were already on her. They mouth their goodbyes (again) and Emily reluctantly exits the diner.

* * *

Emily takes a deep breath as the train stops in Ravenswood, preparing herself for what could be her and Alison's first date. Before Emily got on the train, she phoned Hanna for some advice on where to walk after midnight in Rosewood; Hanna called her an idiot, then suggested that the park path is both beautiful and safe due to park rangers monitoring the area at all times. When the train doors open, she spots Alison get onto the carriage; walking over to their spot on the train. When she sits, she and Emily look at each other adoringly and Alison nudges Emily with her shoulder.

"You still want to go for a walk?" Alison asks, her voice edged with what sounds like doubt. It makes Emily nervous and has her wondering if the blonde has changed her mind.

"Yeah- How does the park path sound?" Emily asks, nudging her back playfully. The blonde sighs blissfully and smirks.

"It sounds perfect," Alison responds, nudging back, then resting her head on Emily's shoulder.

* * *

When they arrive at Rosewood, they get off the train and Emily's stomach sinks, because of course, something would go wrong. It's raining.

It's raining heavily and inconveniently.

She knew that the universe was being too good to her, it was only a matter of time before something went wrong. She lets out a frustrated and disappointed huff and Alison's face looks just as gutted as she feels, but then something in her expression changes; it turns thoughtful and hopeful and she grabs Emily's hand, linking their fingers together.

"My favorite musical is Singing In The Rain," Alison reveals, walking ahead and pulling Emily along with her; out of the shelter and into the stormy weather. _Okay, so maybe tonight isn't ruined after all._

"Mine is Meet Me In St Louis," Emily responds, with her voice rising slightly so that Alison can hear her.

"Me and my Grandma, we used to watch it together every Christmas. I still do." Emily adds. She feels Alison's grip on her hand tighten, as a sign of comfort.

"My guilty pleasure musical, though, is Mamma Mia," Emily adds, earning fake gagging sounds from Alison.

"What's wrong with Mamma Mia?" Emily questions, offended by the response. _Mamma Mia is iconic._

"You want to know what's wrong with Mamma Mia?" Alison scoffs out like it's an obvious thing.

"Yeah, I do." They stop and Alison gives her a look, raising her brow and licking her lips.

"I'll tell you," Alison says playfully.

"Tell me." Emily attempts to demand, though instead it just comes out rather flirtatiously instead.

"Abba," Alison reveals. Emily places a hand on her heart and gasps in awe - The blonde giggles at her over dramatic reaction and wraps her arms around her shoulders.

"I am- I am disappointed- In awe- They are musical geniu-." Emily's rant gets cut short when Alison pulls her into a kiss - and suddenly whatever Emily was going to say, vanishes into thin air. Alison's lips taste like strawberry cake and coffee and she gets lost in them every time they kiss, more and more. Alison's tongue pokes at the entrance of Emily's mouth and she grants it. Emily's hands wrap around Alison's waist as she gets pulled in closer and Emily lets it happen. When they finally pull apart, they're panting, out of breath and Emily brings her hands up to Alison's face and gently stroke her cheekbones and her dimples as she smiles.

"You have really cute dimples." Emily breaths out, kissing them softly. Alison reaches up and cups her hands; kissing them and then her lips again. The blonde then brings her hands down and links their fingers again, continuing their walk. For a while, they walk in a peaceful silence and talk about their day; that's until Alison pushes Emily into a puddle - not just any little puddle, but one of those big puddles that are as high as your knees. Alison cackles, but Emily doesn't let her off that easy; pulling her in with her. They have a pretty intense splash off - kicking water at each other and pushing each other into it - it's honestly the most fun that Emily's had in years and she thinks that with Alison, that's how it will always be. Their fun is interrupted when a cop car pulls up next to them and the driver runs out of the car, yelling.

"Hey, break it up!" Yells the familiar voice. It's Toby, and when he realizes that it's Emily, he doesn't look impressed - Especially when he sees Alison with her.

"Seriously, Emily?" He scolds her. Emily notes that he ignores Alison - _she makes a mental reminder to ask him about that later._

"We're just messing around." Alison defends, raising her hands and moving next to Emily. Toby looks between them both, with a disapproving glare.

"You're in your twenties, playing in puddles at three thirty in the morning. Do you understand how crazy that sounds?" He questions them. Emily sucks in her lips until they form a straight line and Alison looks down - they look like school kids getting told off by the headmaster and Emily finds it hilarious - she starts laughing.

"Em, this isn't funny. I had to come all the way from the station. I was busy." Toby rants, trying his best to be serious, but Emily continues to snicker and Alison joins her. The brunette sucks in a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm sorry, Toby," Emily says seriously. Toby nods thankfully, then looks between them again.

"You guys should go home, the forecast says that it's going to get worse." He warns the pair. They shake their heads in agreement and climb out of the puddle.

"Come on, I'll give you both a ride." Toby offers. They agree and get into the vehicle, giving him addresses. Alison and Emily sit together in the back and Emily is kind of relieved to be out of the rain, as fun as it was. She pulls Alison into her when she feels her shiver; stroking her arms and resting her lips on her forehead. When they get to Alison's apartment, Emily gets's out too, to walk her to her door.

"I'll be back in a minute." She lets him know, getting a nod in response. They walk up the steps to the building and stop when they get to the door.

"I had a good time tonight," Emily tells her, grabbing her hand and pulling her in closer.

"We should do it again sometime." She adds, resulting in Alison nodding and placing a hand behind her neck; bringing their lips together in a small but fiery kiss. When they finish, she kisses Emily's cheek and walks backward.

"See you tomorrow night?" Alison asks, licking her lips and hugging her body.

"See you tomorrow night." And at that, Alison enters the building, leaving a very smitten, unbelievably lucky Emily Fields on her doorstep. She lets out a breath, then runs down the stairs and re-enters the car. Toby watches her curiously for a moment - debating whether or not to say something. It makes Emily gulp because Toby's usually relaxed and jolly, but something was off just now and that makes her uneasy.

"So, how long has that been going on for?" Toby questions her; his arm resting on the top of the seat. Emily shrugs.

"I don't know, a few weeks maybe." She says like it isn't a big deal. His stare is piercing, it's almost as intense as Spencer's when she's pissed off and _that's_ saying something.

"Be careful." He warns her. Emily frowns and her lips part, unsure of how to respond to that.

"Why?" She wonders. Toby's jaw clenches and he tenses; Emily doesn't think that she's ever seen him this way before.

"She's- She's done some crappy stuff. Look, I'm not sure what she's like now- she's probably a better person. Just.. Be careful, okay?" He continues, leaving Emily lost for words. First Aria, now Toby. _Why am I being warned?_ Not wanting to discuss this any further, Emily just nods.

_Whatever it is, she'll tell me when she's ready._

_Won't she?_


	5. oh baby can't you hear me now

It's four in the morning when Emily finally gets home. She can both feel and hear the sloshing in her shoes, as a result of her jumping around in puddles with Alison. Her clothes are drenched, she's sniffling, but she regrets none of it. She just smiles, feeling giddy, and for the first time in a long time;

She's undeniably, blissfully happy.

She clumsily puts her key in the lock - with her hand shaking from the bitter cold. She doesn't even have the chance to turn it, because the door swings open, revealing a gossip hungry looking Hanna, who smirks at her knowingly. Emily knows what's next and internally braces herself with an inward sigh.

"Tell me everything." Hanna demands. Bingo, Emily thinks. To her surprise, she actually has the urge to tell Hanna of the details, something that she's usually reluctant to share. They walk into the apartment and Emily immediately begins stripping out of her damp clothes. Hanna hops past her, into the living room.

"I'll make us some coffee." She calls out.

"Okay." Emily yells back, throwing on a woolly grey jumper and some joggers. She shuffles over to the living room, falling down onto the couch, and dragging the blanket from the back of it down with her. Moments later, Hanna reemerges, with two mugs of coffee as promised. She joins Emily on the couch, giving her an narrowed stare. Emily rolls her eyes.

"Nothing happened, we just.. Walked around." Emily says honestly. Hanna blinks at her - her eyes flash with disappointment, then they roll as if to say 'too good to be true'. Emily seethes inwardly. _Am I really that predictable?_

"So you just walked around in the rain? For two hours?" Hanna questions her, looking at Emily with a raised brow, like she's a mad woman. Emily shrugs her shoulders lightly, with her smile goofy and her cheeks rosy - she can feel them heat up her cold face - it's something that's unpreventable, it seems.

"No, we also- jumped in puddles." Emily reveals, bashfully looking down when she realizes how ridiculous she sounds. Hanna sighs and nudges Emily with her foot, catching her attention.

"What?" Emily squeaks in accusation - also _something else_ that's unpreventable, apparently.

"You're whipped." Hanna teases, mimicking the movement of a whip with her hand, perfected by the sound. Emily looks back, astonished and utterly offended.

"I'm so not, Han. I-" Emily tries, though her voice betrays her and wavers through every high pitch she can hit. She relents with a long huff.

"Okay, fine. I might be a little- smitten, but I'm- I'm really happy." Emily proclaims honestly. Hanna gives her a delighted smile, with her eyes twinkling brightly - which only happens when Hanna realizes something - her eyes are filled content and it makes Emily wonder.

"What?" She asks Hanna quietly, timidly. Hanna nudges Emily with her foot again and laughs lightly.

"It's just- I haven't seen you like this since- you know-" Hanna begins with caution. Emily catches on quickly, then finishes for her.

"Paige." Emily sighs out with a small smile. Hanna gives her a curt nod and gives her another nudge, though this time, it's to comfort her friend.

Emily hasn't thought about Paige in a while - She was Emily's girlfriend of three years. They decided to go to college together and everything was looking up - that was until she had to leave, to be with her father. Paige understood and even offered to join her, but Emily refused to let Paige drop her future for her. Paige tried, telling her that she was her future. Though the feeling was mutual, Emily still put her foot down; saying 'you'll regret it'. They continued to date anyway, long distance, but it just didn't work. They still speak every now and then, but times have changed and so have they.

That's just life.

Emily doesn't want to miss her chance with Alison, she doesn't want the right time to pass them by. She knows what she wants right now, and it's her. As if there's a timer ticking away, she eagerly and desperately grabs her phone off of the coffee table and opens a new message. She doesn't think, she doesn't dread, she doesn't hold back;

She just writes.

**Emily: Hey, are you free tomorrow afternoon?**

She hits send, with no hesitation or regret. In fact, she feels a spark of adrenaline resonate in her heart - she's unstoppable. Hanna clears her throat and Emily briefly turns her attention to her friend - who's head is cocked to one side with a pointed look on her face.

"What just happened?" Hanna asks her. Before Emily can respond, her phone buzzes and Hanna's face furrows quizzically - clearly trying to distinguish the situation, but Emily merely ignores her friend (much to her dismay) and clicks on the message.

**Alison: Emily Fields. Are you finally asking me out on a date?**

Emily's lips curl upward and she sways gleefully. Hanna watches on with a sharp arch of a brow of impatience. She nudges her foot at Emily's leg - repeatedly - in an effort to get her to spill.

"Oh my God, Emily- I can't deal with the suspense, tell me-" Hanna begs her, with her foot still tapping her friends shin. Emily continues to ignore her, only causing Hanna to scowl and groan in agitation. Emily writes out a reply to Alison;

**Emily: I am. :) I'll pick you up at three?**

Emily hits send and throws her blanket at Hanna. She then steps off the couch; a coffee in one hand and her phone in the other. She heads for the kitchen and it isn't long before Hanna's stumbling in after her; enthralled and trying to peep over her shoulder at the phone. Emily protests;

"Hanna, no!" She tells her sternly, perfected with the angry point of her finger. Emily's a tad discouraged when Hanna cackles at her intimidating demeanor, but she doesn't back down. Hanna slowly lowers Emily's sheepish hand with her own.

"Em, you know that Spencer's the only one who can pull off the point and glare. You're too cute." _She's right. I am cute_. Emily lets out a huff of air and Hanna pokes her arm, to attract her attention. Sadly, it works and Emily looks at her face. Hanna's lower lip is out in a pout and she's swaying from side to side - it's her 'guilt trip' look. Emily's phone buzzes again. She checks her message;

**Alison: See you then, killer. ;)**

Emily's stomach flip flops and her heart goes boom - it's finally happening. It's finally happening and Emily can't believe how easy it was. What seemed so daunting and so difficult was actually as simple as a quick text with a dash of courage. She sucks her lips in and turns to face Hanna. Her eyes are lit with anticipation and she's wagging her finger at Emily impatiently, for an explanation.

"I have a date," Emily reveals proudly. Hanna claps and chuckles. She bounces around the room, dancing poorly with excitement and pride. A thought percolate's in her mind and suddenly something clicks.

"You and Spencer made another bet, didn't you?" She guesses. Hanna nods and jazzes over to Emily.

"Damn right. She owes me forty bucks." Emily isn't even annoyed, nor is she shocked. She's actually kind of impressed.

"Kudos to you. You got fifty bucks out of Spencer Hastings in the past week. She's going to be so pissed." Hanna smirks; smug and proud, clinking her mug with Emily's.

"Worth it."

* * *

This can't be happening, this- this is a fucking disaster!" Spencer raves, waving her hands in the air angrily. Emily know's Spencer, and when Spencer swears, it's bad.

 _Very_ bad.

"Maybe now isn't the best time to claim your winnings." Emily whispers to Hanna, whilst exchanging a quick glance with Aria that consists of 'what do we do?'.

"You think?" Hanna mutters back. Spencer just revealed that her wedding planner - Louise - upped and moved to Canada with her boyfriend, just under two months before her wedding. Emily sometimes forgets that Spencer has- well, had a wedding planner, since Spencer seemed to do most of the planning herself. The woman is a machine.

"What are we going to do?! Toby's busy with work- So am I. How do I fix this?" Spencer asks - though, it sounds rhetorical. Emily checks the time on her watch, aware that she already cut it fine when she met Spencer at half one.

It's two.

_I have one hour._

"We'll help you." Aria reluctantly reassures. The girls are all well aware that Spencer has a very specific system that is far too competent, precise and time-consuming. Even if all of them worked together as a team, it would never come together on time. There's only one solution.

They're going to need another Spencer;

And unless there's a clone machine lying around, they're pretty much, well...

_Fucked._

"Aria, I appreciate that you want to help- But there's too much to do in- Christ, seven weeks- and you all have jobs- What I need is a replacement. Fast." Spencer speaks, with unintentional steel in her voice. Emily and Hanna exchange a discreet and wide-eyed glance, then look to Aria, who to Emily's surprise speaks up again. _She's brave._

"I might know someone.." Aria attempts. Emily and Hanna turn their heads to the bride to be and Emily fears that Spencer's going to pull a Regina George on their small friend. Surprisingly, that doesn't happen. Spencer puts her coffee down and crosses her arms, which Emily reads as a good sign.

"I'm listening."

* * *

Amazingly, Aria managed to calm Spencer down - which is a hard goal to accomplish.

"She's on her way," Aria tells the group. Spencer watches her skeptically - unsure. Emily checks her watch again.

It's twenty past two.

With a defeated sigh, Emily decides to text Alison and reschedule.

"Trust me, she's good. She was behind every event at the college. From frat parties to dances and fundraisers- Mona Vanderwaal is your girl." Aria continues to big up, to keep her friend calm. Luckily, it works and Spencer seems to mellow slightly.

**Emily: Hey. I'm so sorry to do this, but Spencer's having a wedding dilemma and as a bridesmaid, I kinda have to be here... Can we rain check? x**

Emily clicks send and feels all the optimism from the previous night fade out. She's not even surprised, she had a feeling that something would go wrong. The universe is notable for being ill-timed.

 _There's always something_.

"Em, don't you have a date to get ready for?" Hanna asks from across the table, wagging her eyebrows. It attracts Aria's and Spencer's attention and Emily is half tempted to throw her cake at the girl.

"You and Alison have a date? Why didn't you tell us?" Spencer questions her. She looks kind of hurt, Emily notes.

"Because I want to be here for you. It's not a big deal, it can wait." Emily reassures her. Spencer scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"Emily, I've been watching you drool over this girl for a month. Go on your date, I'll be fine. I promise." Spencer encourages, giving her a warm smile. Emily frowns at her - conflicted and regretful.

"I, uh- Kind of already canceled.." Emily reveals quietly. At this, her friends all turn to face her and blink - they look ready to fight her, Emily thinks.

"Fix it." Spencer orders, slamming her mug onto the table.

"What? No, it's done. We'll rearrange it-" Emily argues, raising her hands in defense.

"Emily, I swear to God-" Hanna begins, but stopping when Emily's phone buzzes. Emily shakes her head and throws her friends a disgruntled glare before reading her latest text.

**Alison: Oh, it's no worries. I hope everything's okay. How about we reschedule for tonight? Let's say... Eight? x**

Emily frowns at this, squinting at the message to be sure that she read it right - she did, and types out the next message before responding to her friends - much to their dismay.

**Emily: I can't tonight, sorry. I have work. /: I thought that you did too? x**

"She wants to meet tonight, but I have work." Emily updates her friends. Aria and Spencer share a look. Hanna seems to be contemplating something - Emily is cautious of this. Just moments later, Emily's phone starts to ring.

It's Alison and she answers.

"Call in sick." Alison challenges, her voice is filled with mischief and Emily doesn't know how she's going to get out of this.

"I can't do that- my boss will kill me." Emily refuses, apologetically. Hanna rolls her eyes at her and Emily throws crumbs off her cake at her in retaliation.

"Come on, Em. Life is short." Alison persuades. God damn.

"It's tempting, but- I don't think I can pull it off," Emily explains. Meanwhile, Hanna pulls out her own phone from her bag and dials a number. Emily's eyes widen when she realizes who she's calling. Travis (her co-worker aka Hanna's ex).

"Crap, hold on a second," Emily tells Alison, before putting her phone down on the table. She rockets towards Hanna and silently tries to snatch her phone - but sadly, that's not possible. When Hanna as a plan, she gets it done.

"Hey, Travis- It's Hanna- I'm good, how're you doing?- Yeah, she's good- Actually, Emily has a date tonight- I know, right? It's wild- There's a slight problem, though- Yeah, she's working tonight and needs to swap her shift- You want to speak with her?- He wants to speak to you." Hanna tells Emily with a proud, unabashed smirk. Emily snatches the phone, scowling at her friend.

"Hey, Travis."

"Hey Em, so who's the lucky girl?" Travis teases. Emily feels her face redden - partly due to embarrassment and her oncoming headache. She rubs her temples in an attempt to soothe it. She doesn't know what to say - since Alison is still on the other line and can hear everything that's being said right now.

"I- She-."

"I'm just teasing, Fields! I'll cover you. But I need a trade." He negotiates. Emily huffs, frustrated. Don't you dare.

"I'm listening."

"I'll cover you tonight if you cover my Wednesday shift." He proposes. Emily groans inwardly and out loud simultaneously. Wednesday is known as 'Mom Night' at Retros, among the workers. Middle aged women drink all the wine, gin and vodka they have in the building. They sing 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' and 'Girl's just Wanna Have Fun' on the karaoke machine on a never ending loop and it's truly the most dreadful, most disturbing thing that Emily's ever witnessed - It makes Friday's look good and that is saying something.

She considers her options, then comes to a decision.

"Fine." She mutters, locking her jaw to prevent herself from screaming.

"You're a life saver, Fields. Have fun tonight." The call ends and Emily gives Hanna a glare before handing her phone back.

"Oops?" Hanna tells her sarcastically. Emily gives her a light, playful shove, then picks her own phone up from the table and speaks.

"Ali, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. So- What's the plan?" Alison asks her. Emily's stumped - she hasn't thought this through.

"I managed to swap my shift, so- I'll pick you up at eight?"

"I'll see you then, Mermaid." Emily's heart flutters at the nickname and she feels a smile glide up her face.

"See you later." After Emily hangs up, she's greeted by knowing smirks from all three of her friends. Luckily, it doesn't last long - because a woman in a pantsuit approaches the table. Aria steps out of her seat and greets the woman with a hug. Spencer susses her out and Emily doesn't miss the way Hanna stares at the woman - Baffled (so Emily reckons.)

"Everyone, this is Mona Vanderwaal." Aria introduces. As she continues to introduce her to everyone in the group, Emily can't help but stare. Mona looks like she's got her life together; she's wearing a tailored suit, sporting a fancy bag and has the most intimidating, powerful posture Emily's ever seen (after Spencer). Though her expression seems stark and almost emotionless.

She's all about business and it's clear.

"Spencer Hastings, it's a pleasure," Mona says, offering the girl in question a handshake, which is reluctantly returned. The dynamic shifts from comfortable to awkward and Emily swears that she sees Mona's expression falter for a split second. She can't blame her, Spencer can give off pretty intimidating vibes.

"I'm going to level with you. I have three months to kill until my next campaign, so I'm bored and wouldn't mind something to do." Mona reveals. Spencer's expression eases and turns impressed.

"What do you do?" Spencer questions her.

"Get people where they want to go." Mona simply replies. Spencer smirks approvingly and Mona sits opposite her, plonking her laptop onto the table.

"What needs to be done?"

* * *

An hour slowly goes by...

So. Painfully. Slowly.

It's been sixty minutes of silent observation as Mona and Spencer make plans and discuss Mona's job as a campaign manager.

It's been unbearable.

"I'm going to get more coffee. Anyone need a refill?" Emily interrupts. Mona and Spencer nod gratefully, not missing a beat of their chat and Hanna watches them (Mona, Emily notes), intrigued. Aria looks horrified and looks to Emily for help.

"Hanna?" Emily asks her, snapping her out of her gaze.

"Hm? Oh, I'm good." Hanna mutters back mindlessly.

"I'll help." Aria offers, quickly standing and excusing herself. The pair walks over to the counter and let out a sigh of relief.

"Jeez, what have I created?" Aria wonders, glancing at the table.

"I don't know, but Hanna seems... Into it." Emily points out. Aria's eyes widen and she nods in agreement. Emily considers that Hanna might have a bit of a crush on Mona - judging by her not so subtle gazes and uncalled for outbursts of laughter.

It's really something.

"Hey, what can I get you?" A voice interrupts. Emily turns to face the barista and freezes. It can't be.

"Sabrina?" Emily greets excitedly, though with an edge of unexpectedness. The barista gasps and her eyes light up.

"Emily Fields. It's been-"

"Months." Emily finishes. They stare at each other for a beat, in a silence that speaks louder than intended, judging by Aria's curious glance between them. Emily clears her throat.

"So, how have you been?" She asks the barista, who shrugs.

"Yeah, good. Just got back from Europe, so.."

"Of course, how was it?" Emily questions - ignoring the suspicious glare beaming from Aria's eyes.

"How about we go for lunch sometime, and I'll tell you all about it." Emily feels almost conflicted but grins in consent.

"Do you have the same number?" Sabrina nods, confirming, and Emily feels Aria jab her arm. When she looks at her friend, the expression on her face is unimpressed. Sabrina seems to notice this, because she turns her attention to the small woman, grimacing.

"Can we get four coffee's, please?" Aria bites, with faux politeness, but Emily isn't fooled by her sweet tone, and judging by the clench of Sabrina's jaw - neither is she. Emily scowls at her friend and throws Sabrina an apologetic glance.

"Coming right up." The barista spits back disingenuously, before moving over to the coffee machine with a disgruntled pout.

"Emily, what the hell was that?" Aria accuses. Emily looks back dumbfounded and jaw slacked.

"You can't be serious, I- It's just dinner, with a friend. You didn't have to be so rude." Emily defends quietly, not wanting Sabrina to overhear.

"A friend who you dated." Aria snaps back with fury present in her eyes. Emily sighs inwardly.

"We're just friends. I don't see her like that anymore." Emily reassures her. Aria blinks skeptically.

"I don't."

"I wish the same could be said for your friend." Aria responds, quoting with her finger's when she says 'friend'. Emily scoffs at her and shakes her head, then quickly realizes that her friend may be right, by the way, Sabrina smiles coyly at her when she returns.

* * *

Emily taps her fingertips on the wheel nervously as she eyes the time.

7:55pm.

With a deep breath, she exits the vehicle and slowly steps towards the building. She fumbles with her leather jacket and brushes through her hair with her fingers, trying to slow the frantic beat of her heart.

_This is real._

When she reaches the front door, she clears her throat and presses the buzzer.

"Yeah, what is it?" A voice spits, panicking Emily. _God, what if I buzzed the wrong apartment?_

"Is- Is Alison there?" She stutters out, hoping the voice on the other side will take pity on her. To her surprise, she hears a chuckle and it hits her.

_It's Charlotte._

"Americano, come on up!" Charlotte greets, her voice now soft and welcoming. Emily nods then stop when she realizes that no one can see her. _Smooth, Em_.

She makes her way into the building and effortlessly runs up the stairs to Alison's apartment. Before she has the chance to knock, the door swings open, revealing Charlotte, who's smug smile is the only warning Emily's given before she's being pulled in by her wrist.

"Ali's just getting ready," Charlotte informs her, linking arms with Emily and guiding her to the living area - it catches her off guard.

"Want a drink?" Charlotte offers, picking up a beer. Emily shakes her head appreciatively, then reluctantly sits down on the couch.

"I'm good, thank you. Got the car outside." Emily tells her. The older Dilaurentis pouts then shrugs, opening a bottle for herself. She falls onto the armchair opposite Emily, with her eyes curious and bright - they're just like Alison's. She rests her face on her hand and watches Emily - it's unsettling. _I'm being sussed out_.

"So, how are things going with my baby sis?" She asks her in a genuine, yet stern tone - as if this is a test. Emily clears her throat.

"Things are- really great." Emily tells her honestly, feeling her lip tug upwards as she thinks about the past month.

"Just great?"

"No- I- They're really great." Emily stutters out worriedly. Charlotte's eyes flash with something unreadable and it irks Emily slightly - she isn't trusted and it makes her feel antsy.

"She's super into you, you know. I haven't seen her this happy in a long time." Charlotte tells her, taking a swig of her beer. Emily blinks and watches the older Dilaurentis carefully with caution.

"So, if you hurt her.. I'll hurt you. Got it?" Charlotte warns almost too positively. Emily gulps and tenses as the words set in. She gives the girl a curt nod.

"Got it." Emily confirms, wishing for this moment to end. She hears footsteps approach and sighs in relief. She turns to face the door and a frantic Alison enters, not noticing Emily.

"Charlotte, have you seen my- Oh, Emily." Alison pauses. Emily gapes slightly, taking in the girl before her; she's wearing a spring green dress, which clings to her snugly, hugging the curves of her hips so effortlessly, emphasizing them. Her blonde hair flows neatly on her shoulders and her lips are tugged upward into a shy smile, with her eyes twinkling with something unreadable.

Emily feels her heart clench as she unashamedly takes in the girl before her, awe struck and utterly besotted.

"Hi." Emily finally breaths out, totally forgetting about Charlotte and Alison being the sole focus of her eager eyes.

"Hey." Alison responds, just as breathless. Emily hears Charlotte mutter something like 'ew', followed by sounds of shuffling.

"That's my cue. See you tomorrow sis. Americano." Charlotte tells them before departing. Emily doesn't miss the 'tomorrow' and the scolding glare that Alison gives her.

"You look amazing." Emily compliments, stepping up from her seat and towards Alison, who also walks towards her - like they're drawn together.

"I'm not ready yet." Alison tells her, in an attempt to debunk her compliment. The blonde wraps her arms around Emily's shoulders, and her bottom lip juts out in a pout.

Emily chuckles. "Yet you still look.. Amazing."

"Shut up." Alison mutters, before pulling her into a kiss. Her lips taste like vanilla and mint, Emily notes. They both pull away and Emily rests her forehead on Alison's, just wanting to be near her. The blonde's eyes twinkle with promise and perplexity - the weight of her stare makes Emily's heart pound and she can feel the butterflies percolate in her chest.

"What is it?" Alison wonders, placing a strand of Emily's hair behind her ear. Emily grabs Alison's hand, and wordlessly guides it to her chest, where the butterflies are. An understanding flashes in the blonde's eyes, and Emily can't do anything else but gaze into them. Alison grabs Emily's spare hand, copying her earlier action. She then rests her forehead against Emily's again and then the message becomes clear;

_I have butterflies too._

A knock on the door startles them and Emily jolts back from the girl. Alison giggles and shakes her head at her.

"Come in!" She yells. Next thing she knows, Charlotte waltz' into the room with a pair of shoes. Alison gasps in relief and takes them from her sister; gracefully falling down onto the couch and sliding them on. She looks at Emily.

"You ready?" Alison asks her. Emily instinctively looks to Charlotte first - almost like she's asking for her blessing - then Alison before giving her a small smile and nod.

"Enjoy your night, ladies."

* * *

Emily feels like a mug. She should have planned it better, but then again, she didn't get the chance to, not with everything that took place today. That's why they're having their first date in the grottiest looking diner Emily's ever set foot in, called 'The Sub', instead of Rosewood's finest, 'The Apple Rose Grille'.

She's completely humiliated.

But, Alison doesn't look fazed, nor annoyed, she actually looks happy - but looks can be deceiving. Emily chews on her lip anxiously as the couple walk through the busy diner. She watches Alison with caution, waiting for the inevitable ' _I have to leave, there's an emergency_ ' excuse. As if Alison senses this, she links her hand with Emily's, and gives it a soothing squeeze.

"This is fine." Alison reassures her, guiding her to a table. They both sit at opposite ends of the table and look at each other for an awkward beat, until neither of them can take it anymore.

They both break into fit's of laughter, because honestly, it's a joke. Emily finally plucks up the courage to ask the girl she's been pining over for over a month on a date, with the intention of being extravagant with romantic gestures and she ends up taking her to a beat up diner. When the laughing wears off, Alison reaches over and places her hand over Emily's, letting out the most content sigh that she's ever heard. Emily carefully puts her hand on Alison's, now cupping it with both of her's, and it feels so natural.

So at _home._

* * *

Emily orders a cheeseburger and fries, with a strawberry milkshake. Alison orders the same, but instead of a strawberry milkshake, she has a chocolate one. Much to their surprise, the food here is actually great and the service is on point.

 _Looks can be deceiving,_ Emily reminds herself.

Currently, Alison's talking passionately about her feelings of a Charmed reboot, claiming that _'the CW ruin everything'_ and _'why can't they think of something original, they're going to slaughter it'_. Her nose goes all cute and scrunchy when she's annoyed and Emily can't help but fall in love with it.

 _can't help but fall in love, with her_.

It takes Emily aback and she freezes at the realization, and of course - Alison notices.

That girl misses _nothing._

The blonde gives her a quizzical look and gasps. "Oh God, I sound like such a loser." Alison cringes and face palms. Emily laughs lightly, watching her with adoration, asking herself - _how did I get so lucky?_

"Oh God, don't look at me- I'm a human disaster." Alison complains, covering her face with her arm, but removing it a beat later. Emily laughs again, then leans over the table and places a chaste kiss on her lips. The other girl sighs into it and watches her contently.

"What was that for?" Alison breathes out. Emily shrugs and reaches for her hand with her own.

"You're cute." Emily responds, just as breathless. She swears that she witnesses a blush creep upon the blonde's face and revels in it.

"Shut up." Alison playfully bites back.

"Tell me more about how the CW suck." Emily encourages - actually genuinely interested in the subject. Alison sucks her lips in, a smile glides up her face, and she continues her rant.

And Emily continues falling.

* * *

She doesn't know how they ended up here..

Okay, she does.

After food, Alison suggested that they should go for a drive, because ' _the night's young_ '.

Next thing she knows, they're in an abandoned car park - grinding up against each other - not that Emily's complaining, or anything. Not when Alison is warm and squirming in her arms, panting into her mouth and grinding on her thigh; letting out some of the most obscene moans Emily's ever had the pleasure of hearing.

"Fuck, Em." Alison groans, raking her nails up and down Emily's bicep. Emily peppers kisses up Alison's throat, nibbling at her ear, rewarding herself a series of beautiful gasps. Emily lets her hands slide up Alison's thighs, urging her dress higher up and finds herself getting more and more lost in her skin. She slides her hand up the girls stomach, then strokes down until-

"Wait-" Alison tells her, voice almost strangled. Emily immediately halts, snatching her hand away and squeezing her eyes shut; worried that she crossed a line. When she dares to open them, glassy blue eyes watch her - pupil's blown and filled with desire.

"Not here." Alison speaks - her voice raspy and impatient. They look at each other for a beat before Emily nods.

Not here.


	6. Chapter 6

The drive back to Emily's apartment is a challenge, to say the least. Especially when Alison's nails continue to tortuously rake up and down Emily's thigh. She has to stomp on the ever growing urge to stop this car and have her right here, right now. To refrain herself, she gingerly turns up the radio and stares fixedly forward in careful concentration.

They arrive outside Emily's apartment building in only five minutes - though it felt more like forty. She stops the car and glances at Alison. They look at each other for a mere beat, and then Alison's lips are on hers again in a needy kiss that reeks of impatience. It's near to impossible to pull away, even for just a second, and it seems to get more difficult the longer it lasts. Sadly though, if they want to get to the apartment in one piece, they don't really have a choice, so Emily does the impossible.

She pulls away.

Alison groans at the sudden loss of contact, and Emily can't help but chuckle. She leaves the car and runs to the other side of it, opening the passenger door for Alison. She grabs her hand and tugs.

"C'mon." Emily encourages, giving her a warm smile, which Alison reciprocates, following her lead into the building and up the stairs. They walk up in a heavy silence, occasionally stealing glances and chaste kisses, but nothing further.

Emily's impressed at their resistance.

She goes to open the front door but stops when Alison tugs her back, turning the girl to face her. The blonde's eyes glint wickedly, and the energy emanating from them is galvanic. Emily feels her entire body shudder at the intensity, and then her lips are on Alison's.

Emily forgets the task of getting into the apartment and instead, lets herself get lost in Alison. The blonde pushes her up against the door, and begins to fumble with the top button of Emily's shirt. She lets out a frustrated huff when her fingers fail her- frantically picking at it. Emily cups Alison's hands with her own, to stop her for a moment, to calm her down. Alison rests her forehead against Emily's and lets out a ragged breath.

 _One of relief_ , Emily guesses.

Alison's eyes shut tight, and a small wrinkle forms in the middle of her brow. "You okay?" Emily asks her, concerned. Alison nods and looks into her eyes with reassurance in them. But there's something else behind them, something that Emily can't quite define.

"What is it?"

"I-"

The front door opens, stopping Alison from saying what she was about to, much to Emily's dismay. They both stumble through the front door, and into the apartment, startled. Emily quickly regains composure and help's Alison regain hers. When she looks up, Hanna's standing in the doorway, holding a bag of garbage, offering Emily an apologetic glance for her ill-timed moment.

"I'm so sorry- I was just taking out the trash. Didn't mean to interrupt." Hanna explains sincerely, looking between the two flushed girls. Emily feels a tad irked, but she doesn't blame Hanna- she blames whoever's up there. After a beat of unbearable silence, Hanna clears her throat.

"I'm gonna take this out, then go to bed. See you guys soon." Hanna announces in a suggestive tone, shuffling past them in her slippers. Emily doesn't miss the coy smile and discreet wink on her face.

Neither does Alison, who raises a brow at Emily and chuckles. When they're finally alone, Emily grabs Alison's hand, giving her it a light squeeze.

"What was it you were going to say?" Emily asks again, not forgetting where they left off. Alison's eyes briefly flash with panic, then scan her face- as if she's ruminating something. She pulls Emily closer to her and gives her a small smile.

"I really like being around you." Alison whispers demurely, looking at Emily with such genuinity. But there's still that thing left unspoken behind her eyes. In a momentary decision, Emily decides not to dwell on it- not now, anyway. She leans in and lightly presses her lips to Alison's and gives her hand another light squeeze.

"Do you want a drink?" Emily asks her quietly. Alison shakes her head and smirks coyly.

"No." And that's the only warning that Emily gets before Alison grabs the back of her neck, yanking her forward into a kiss which is met with equal heat. Alison goes to undo Emily's shirt, and this time, she succeeds with newfound confidence. Emily cups Alison's cheek with one hand, while the other rests on her waist.

Mostly to keep herself from falling.

She finds herself unable to do anything else. The final button loosens with a pop, and Alison's eyes droop. Her lips part slightly, and her hand lifts to her stomach in awe.

"Jesus, Em-" Alison slowly guides her finger across Emily's abs and Emily feels like she's on fire. She gazes at the blonde so attentively, that she nearly doesn't hear her jacket hit the floor. Alison then pushes off her shirt, purring when she runs her hands up Emily's bare arms. Emily's lips go dry and her breaths become heavier.

"Fuck." The blonde whispers, her hands now on Emily's biceps. They move over her shoulders, lightly scratching down her back, causing Emily to gasp. She brings her lips to Alison's throat, dragging them up it, whilst gripping Alison's waist again. The blonde groans, pulling Emily flush against her. Emily's rear hits the wall with a dull thump and their lips meet in a heated kiss, messier than the others shared so far.

Emily's hands slide up her body, with careful caution. Alison seems to catch on, boldly guiding them to the zipper on her back. Emily's hands freeze, and she watches the blonde.

_Are you sure?_

Alison nods propitiously, and Emily wastes no more time. She sucks a breath in anticipation and slides the zipper down, in a painstakingly slow pace. They both pull the dress down together until It falls to her ankles willingly. Alison steps out of it, and it takes a moment for Emily's brain to register that Alison isn't wearing a bra. Emily shudders at the arousal growing in the pit of her stomach as she takes her in- unabashedly admiring the blonde's impeccable curves. She skates her fingers over Alison's hips, stopping momentarily when they reach her underwear.

Emily hooks her fingers around the material and begins to slide them down. Alison watches her with eager hooded eyes, licking into Emily's mouth when her fingers dip inside. Emily's surprised when she finds how profusely and ridiculously soaked the blonde is.

"Oh my God." Emily gasps as her fingers explore her, spreading her lips. She inhales sharply at how they seem to draw her fingers in, and at the obscene groan that Alison releases.

"Em- Please," Alison begs, scratching at Emily's shoulders and bucking into her hand impatiently. Just as Emily's about to oblige, she spares a thought for Hanna, who's probably sitting on their doorstep, and waiting for the coast to be clear so she can go to bed. On that thought, she hooks her arms beneath Alison's thighs and lifts her, eliciting a satisfied moan from the blonde. She then takes them to her bedroom, crashing into a set of drawers on the way. Once in her room, Emily trips, and unceremoniously lays Alison down on the bed. She doesn't seem to mind, though. In fact; Alison seems intrigued.

Emily lays on top of Alison and stares at her for a solid beat, suddenly feeling nerve-wracked. It isn't uncertainty or doubt, it's the acute weight of what it is- she doesn't want to mess this up somehow. As if able to read her mind, Alison cups her cheek, skimming her fingers across her mouth. Her expression's soft and serene, and reassuring; letting her know that the feeling's mutual.

At that, Emily closes the gap between them again. This kiss is a contrast to the heated ones shared previously. It's filled with an intense passion; it's a promise. The kiss deepens, and suddenly, hands are everywhere. Emily becomes bolder, and moves her hands up to cup Alison's breasts, prompting the blonde to gasp in surprise and lick into her mouth eagerly. Emily feels Alison unhook her bra and roll them over. She removes the item of clothing, chucking it to the side, and straddling Emily's hips.

Emily feels regretful, not removing her trousers before they got into bed, especially as the uncomfortable wetness between her legs only seem to intensify; she feels like she's about to implode. Alison seems to read her mind (again), and unfastens her jeans. She tugs them down her legs hurriedly, then slides her hands up Emily's bare thighs, spreading them. She crawls up the bed, giving Emily the most positively hungry look she's ever been on the receiving end of- it's almost primal. The blonde straddles Emily's thigh, and Emily can feel the wet heat coming from her. Alison begins to rock, grinding Emily's clit as she moves, sending jolts of pleasure through the brunette. She keeps one hand on Alison's waist, and brings the other to one of Alison's breast, rolling a nipple between her fingers.

"Oh God, Em-" Alison groans, rocking her hips. Their kisses are messier now; filled with desperation. The blonde's hips are now moving with abandon, and she's panting obscenities into Emily's mouth. She feels like she's going to explode at any given moment. "Oh God, I-ah, more-" Alison begs, blindly grabbing Emily's fingers from her waist and guiding them to where she needs her most. Emily starts to circle her clit and gapes at how it pulsates uncontrollably under her fingers. Alison groans disapprovingly and Emily immediately snatches her hand away, scared that she crossed a line.

Alison shakes lets out, pawing at her chest. "No-fingers,inside-please" Alison begs her. Emily quickly brings her hand back down between her legs and inserts two fingers. Alison lets out a wail, and Emily feels like she's going to pass out because _fuck_. The blonde is pulsating rhythmically around her fingers and her nails are dragging down her stomach harder, the stronger the waves get. Emily sits up as much as she can, enough to wrap her lips around Alison's straining nipple. She begins pumping into her newfound vigor, curling her fingers upwards. With this new position, Emily's able to get more friction, and unashamedly rides Alison's thigh. She can feel the pressure build up within her, higher and higher. She feels Alison's uneven breath on her ear "Let go."

Emily lets out a broken groan, and bites down hard onto Alison's shoulder, bucking her hips a few more times.

Just seconds later, Alison freezes, quaking above, and arching her back with so much force, that if Emily wasn't holding her, she's certain that she would have fallen off the bed. Her mouth hangs open, her head is thrown back, and Emily can feel a pool of wetness cover her hand.

Alison screams. "Fuck, Em!" Emily shudders, watching in awe as she helps the blonde come down from her high, coaxing sweet gasps from her. Alison sighs, collapsing onto her, and Emily gently soothes her back, through every shiver. They stay like this for a little while; simply content and spent.

Alison stirs, nuzzling into Emily's neck and peppering kisses up it until she reaches her lips in a slow kiss. The blonde leans her forehead against Emily's, and Emily melts under her adoring gaze.

"What?" Emily wonders out loud, moving strands of Alison's damp with sweat hair back. The blonde shrugs and sighs blissfully. "I'm happy." She reveals in a whisper. Emily feels her heart pound in response. Alison places a hand on her heart, and Emily realizes that she can feel it too. "Me too." She says back, her voice wavering almost.

They fall asleep not long after that, with Alison laying on Emily's chest.

* * *

"Crap." Hanna mutters outside Emily's door, waking her up. She opens her eyes slowly, her eyes reflexively searching for Alison, who is fast asleep next to her. Emily watches her for a moment, regarding the curve of her spine against the sheets, and the way that her hair falls across the pillow.

She's so immensely and irretrievably besotted by this girl, so much so, that it hurts.

Emily surreptitiously slips out of bed, and puts on some lazy day clothes, with the intention of making Alison breakfast in bed- and she doesn't cook for _anyone_.

(Mostly because she can't cook).

What has she done to me? Emily wonders, laughing to herself lightly. She steps out of her room quietly and makes her way towards the kitchen. Hanna shoves past her, incessantly pacing the room, wearing a panicked expression on her face.

"You okay?" Emily mumbles, yawning and stretching her limbs. Hanna shakes her head. "No- I don't know. Lucas called." Hanna reveals with a disgruntled sigh. Emily blinks and watches her quizzically.

"Remember how he called? Like.. A week ago?" Hanna reminds her. Emily rolls her eyes and walks over to the fridge. "That was weeks ago, Han." Emily corrects her, retrieving eggs and orange juice. Hanna clicks her tongue and stares at her with muted irritation.

"We've been talking for a few weeks... About.. Jobs." Hanna reveals. Emily notes how her friend unsubtly avoids eye contact, and how she fumbles with the hem of her shirt- almost out of guilt. Emily watches her in a careful silence.

"He's starting up a new business, and- He wants me to do the interior design for the building." Hanna clears her throat before continuing, and Emily raises a brow in anticipation. "In New York."

_Ah._

Emily's conflicted. On one hand, she's ecstatic, because Hanna deserves the best. But at the same time, her stomach flinches at the thought of her friend moving to New York. She blinks, then smiles, though it feels faux. Hanna notices.

"I'm probably not gonna-"

"You should do it." Emily interrupts. The words come out with an unintentional edge of steel, and again, Hanna notices.

"You're talented, Han. You're better than Rosewood, and you know it. I mean- I'll miss you- but we'll still see each other. You're my friend. My best-" Emily never gets to finish her sentence, because next thing she knows, Hanna's arms are wrapped around her in a strong embrace. After the initial shock, Emily eases into it, resting her chin on her friend's shoulder. When they pull away, Emily's shocked to Hanna's makeup run down her face.

"You're my best friend too." Hanna sniffles, and wipes the makeup from under her eyes. "I don't start for a few months, so you'll have to put up with me for a while longer." She adds. Emily laughs, then gives her a curt nod.

"I guess I can deal with that."

"Shut up," Hanna responds with a small smile. Emily grabs a frying pan from the shelf, and Hanna stares at her narrowly- it makes Emily feel a little uneasy.

"What?" She questions her. Hanna shrugs. "I just find it cute. How whipped you are, I mean." Emily stares at her with accusation. "I'm so not." She defends, though Hanna watches her with skepticism and a smug grin.

"You don't cook for anyone. I beg to differ."

_She has a point._

Emily walks into her bedroom with scrambled eggs on toast, and she makes mental note to buy Hanna a beer to thank her for preparing it for her.

She makes a second mental note to never cook eggs in the microwave again.. And to perhaps attend a few cooking classes, but she chooses not to dwell on that right now. Instead, she focuses on Alison, who's still sleeping. Maybe I should have waited a bit longer, Emily thinks.

She gingerly steps over to the bedside table, to put the plate and juice down, but stops when she hears movement beside her. "Hey." Alison greets, her voice husky from sleep. Emily grins, and puts the food down, taking a seat on the bed next to her.

"Morning," Emily responds. Alison reaches for Emily's hand, and tugs on it for her to lay down. The blonde nuzzles her neck and edges closer to her. Emily simply lets her, briefly forgetting about the soon to be spoiled breakfast next to her. "How're you feeling?" Emily asks her. Alison kisses her shoulder, and Emily can feel her grin on her skin. It makes her heart clench wonderfully. Alison lifts her gaze to meet Emily's, and tells her, "Happy."

Emily smiles, leaning down to kiss her. However, that smile quickly dimmers when Alison turns her head. "You don't wanna kiss me, I have morning breath." Alison murmurs. Emily rolls her eyes, then chases Alison's lips with her own. "I always want to kiss you." Alison lets out a small laugh, then allows Emily to kiss her. It's only chaste, but it lingers on Emily's lips when she pulls away.

"I made you breakfast... Well- Technically Hanna did, but I helped." Emily tells her, as she grabs it from the bedside table. Alison shimmies herself up, so she's leaning against the headboard. "That's adorable." Alison coos, resting her head on Emily's shoulder when she sits back down.

"You're a keeper," Alison adds. Emily feels the gravity of those words on her heart, and she realizes with sudden clarity that;

She's in love.


End file.
